2Sustain

American consumers buy 320 million cleaning products in trigger bottles each year, and millions of those plastic containers end up in landfills. SC Johnson, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of household products, wants consumers to consider a different option to “spray and throw away.”

In response to consumer demand revealed through earlier focus groups and a study with GfK Roper examining green attitudes and behaviors, SC Johnson has announced the expansion of its Mini line of concentrated cleaners. This new product line allows buyers to combine one bottle of concentrate with regular tap water in a reusable trigger bottle, eliminating the need to buy new trigger bottles of the same product.

The Mini line includes five of SC Johnson brands: (more…)

If gas prices continue to climb, will you consider making significant changes to your driving habits? Will you consider buying a different car, or maybe even abandoning auto ownership all together?

Interesting new research from Oliver Wyman and the ESB Business School Reutlingen in Germany reveals that for many urban dwellers in Western Europe and Asia, the answer to all of those questions is a resounding “yes.”

The “Future of Mobility” found that, if fuel prices rose significantly by 2030, more than three-fourths (77 percent) of the 3,000 people polled would change their mobility behavior by:

• switching to a smaller car,
• switching to an electric car, or
• abandoning car ownership entirely and replacing it with a mixture of transport modes.

Survey respondents in Shanghai (91percent) and France (82percent) were particularly open to changing their mobility patterns. High-income respondents (71percent) were the least likely demographic segment to consider a switch.

The survey also asked respondents to predict how their behavior would change under a more aggressive “sustainability mobility” scenario. For this particular scenario, those polled were asked to imagine a 2030 with fuel costs at 4 euro/liter (the equivalent of about $20/gallon), more traffic congestion, better quality public transport and the possibility of planning multimodal trips using smartphone apps. Under this “sustainability mobility” scenario: (more…)

Last month, the Clorox Company launched both a new smartphone application and a mobile website that allow consumers to have immediate access to information about the ingredients in Clorox products marketed in the US and Canada.

The first consumer packaged goods company to launch a smartphone application for ingredient disclosure, Clorox is offering the app initially to iPhone users, enabling them to scan a product UPC code and be taken instantly to that product’s ingredient listing.

The free application can be found in the iPhone App Store by typing in “Clorox ingredients,” and the company says the Ingredients Inside app will be available for other mobile devices soon.

In addition to the app, a new mobile website, which is available for all mobile platforms, gives easier, on-the-go access to the company’s Ingredients Inside program by offering content and functionality optimized for mobile device use.

Clearly, Clorox is responding to two emerging consumer trends: (more…)

It’s a familiar debate in the month of December. Eco-minded consumers want to know which is more sustainable: a fresh cut Christmas tree or an artificial one?

This year, an ISO-compliant third-party peer reviewed Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) gives us some insight and helps clear up common misperceptions about the environmental impacts of Christmas trees.

The study, conducted by the international research firm PE International, found that ultimately, consumers need to consider a number of different factors before deciding which type of tree is more environmentally friendly. For instance, the findings show that length of ownership, disposal method and “tree miles” can make a difference regarding which tree is more “green.”

The ISO-compliant third-party peer reviewed LCA was sponsored by the American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA), a non-profit organization representing artificial Christmas tree retailers and real Christmas tree retailers.  Based on the results of the study, the ACTA recommends that consumers demonstrate responsible consumerism by following these steps: (more…)

Asda, which operates more than 500 retail stores across the UK, announced earlier this month that it is on track to deliver customer savings adding up to £800 million (about $ 1.2 billion) by 2020, thanks to its commitment to sustainability initiatives.

The company has been working towards a variety of sustainability targets since 2005, when global parent Walmart announced its commitments to sustainable sourcing and reductions in energy use and waste.

Asda has already made considerable progress. The company has:

• saved more than £70m in 2010 alone by reducing waste and energy usage in its operations.
• reduced absolute carbon emissions by an industry leading 11.9 percent  –exceeding its target to achieve a 10 percent reduction by 2015.
• eliminated 149,000 tonnes of carbon from operations since 2007. (That’s the equivalent of taking 60,000 cars off the road for a year.)
• eliminated 900 jumbo jets worth of packaging from its products.
• reduced energy use in stores equivalent to that used by over 55,000 homes every year.
• eliminated 17 million miles from its supply chain. (The company says that’s the same as going to the moon and back 38 times.)
• redirected all food waste and 96 percent operational waste from landfill through recycling programs, including diverting waste for energy.

In addition, over the past nine months, Asda has asked customers about their views on sustainability issues and what matters to them. Based on this research, the company concluded that: (more…)