In case you haven’t heard, the Chamber of Commerce has come under harsh criticism in recent weeks for speaking out against both the House and Senate climate bills and questioning the science of climate change. The Chamber has even said that it wants to see public hearings on the degree of public danger caused by greenhouse gases.
The criticism has come mostly from within the Chamber itself — Nike stepped down from its position on the board of directors, and Apple and three large utilities (Exelon, PG&E, PNM) have resigned their memberships entirely, all citing their divergence of views regarding climate change as the reason.
All this Chamber-bashing had me wondering if the big boys lambasting it have room to talk, environmentally speaking, that is. Most recognize Apple and Nike as well established brands that offer quality products, but their environmental scorecards are not oft-mentioned.
So I did a little looking into the situation in the hope that I would be surprised. While I wasn’t blown away by the companies’ eco-efforts, I wasn’t entirely dismayed either. Here are the highlights.
Apple, for its part, has created one of the most comprehensive, transparent, and user-friendly environmental info-based Web interfaces of any business that I’ve seen. The site breaks down the company’s polluting areas one-by-one (manufacturing, transportation, product use, recycling, facilities) and provides substantive information for each, including its contribution to the company’s overall carbon footprint. See for yourself if you’d like at www.apple.com/environment. (And if you’re wondering, the answer is no, I’m not a Mac user and this is not a plug!)
In addition to its Web site, Apple was the only computer-maker to be praised last week in a report by environmental non-profits ChemSec and Clean Production Action called “Greening Consumer Electronics: Moving Away from Bromine and Chlorine” for its efforts to rid its products of the two harmful chemicals.
Not too shabby, but this does not of itself mean Apple monopolizes the enviro-limelight. Apple’s competitors, HP and Dell, do not have nearly the extensive and fun-to-browse Web sites, but were named the first and second (respectively) most environmentally responsible companies in America by Newsweek in its 2009 Green Rankings feature in September.
Apple came in at number 133, just above Pepco Holdings, a natural gas company whose environmental initiatives Newsweek called “piecemeal.” Overall, Apple seems to be thriving where it normally does, in consumer-based innovation and marketing, but not too much more than that.
Then there’s Nike, which I hadn’t heard too much about in the way of environmentalism. The company, which Newsweek ranked No. 7, spearheaded a coalition last year, Business for Climate and Energy Policy (BICEP), along with other big-name companies like Starbucks and Levi Strauss. BICEP advocates for strict carbon-emission regulations and international leadership in the fight against climate change. The group, in association with Ceres, a network of investors and environmental organizations, held a large gathering in the Capital last week called ‘We Can Lead’ to lobby Congress to pass progressive climate
legislation swiftly.
Aside from its political efforts, Nike began a program in 1993 called Reuse-A-Shoe, which recycles old trainers (over 20 million pairs to date, says the Nike Web site) and also uses scrap material from its products to make a rubber substance, Nike Grind, that is used as flooring for turf sports fields, much like that of our own beloved Autzen Stadium.
While BICEP and Reuse-A-Shoe are both valid initiatives, I would have appreciated more transparency about the company’s supply chains and their undoubtedly heady contributions to the industrial waste stream.
Although neither Nike nor Apple can exactly be considered exemplary environmental leaders in their industries, it’s encouraging that they at least are beginning to say it’s a priority and take steps toward proving it.
You know that saying, “If you convince yourself of something, it begins to be true?” I tend to think it’s simply another way of saying that if we create intent to accomplish something and then work towards it, opportunities and then results start presenting themselves naturally.
I hope the act of leaving the Chamber will have a resonating effect with other companies that are beginning to embrace rather than doubt the shift towards sustainability that climate change will not ask, but force, our society to make.
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Stepping into the enviro-limelight
Daily Emerald
October 10, 2009
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