The Institute’s Green Plus program has been accepted for consideration for Pepsi’s ‘Refresh’ grants program. Your vote will help us help small businesses become more competitive through becoming more environmentally and socially sustainable. Please support us by clicking here and leaving your vote. An award from Pepsi will help the Institute expand its Sustainability Fellows program – a program in which we hire and train, and work with talented young people from a variety of disciplines to assist small businesses in assessing their business, environmental, employee and community performance.

As recently published on GreenBiz.com by Claudia Girrbach:

“Packaging — especially wasteful packaging — has become a bright spot on the radar for companies and individuals that are working on reducing their environmental impacts. But even the most proactive companies are finding that the problem can’t simply be addressed in-house.

In my work in the IT department, I am constantly frustrated with the wasteful product packaging we receive from our IT equipment vendors. And the complaints are widespread, as in these examples I’ve gotten from our customers.

“Software licenses were sent in a large box bubble wrapped inside a cardboard envelope!” Steve, an IT Service Provider, told me. “Surely in this digital age something like this could be communicated electronically?”

The amount of materials is one of the biggest challenges, according to Stephan, who operates a large data center. “Plastic bubble wrap, empty cardboard spacers inside of cardboard boxes, surrounded by foam peanuts, and topped off with documentation that nobody will ever read or use — it’s ridiculous!”

Along those lines, the waste is so excessive that Rick, who works at a government agency, explained, “We had to hire a part time person one day a week just to dispose of this stuff in as green a manner as we can.”

To read the full article on GreenBiz.com, click here.

Riley Life Industries is a custom outsourced service provider of order fulfillment, product distribution, kitting / packaging, and warehousing. Our mission is to deliver superior outsourced service support to customers who aim to be sustainable and progressive. Chris Bingham, Riley’s President and CEO, will share an overview of the company and its sustainability initiatives. Special speakers include an executive staff member of Green Plus and Sunny Nastase, the Senior Director of Sustainability at UPS from Atlanta. Chris and his colleagues will offer tours of their facilities and provide liquid refreshments, the good kind.

When: March 11, 5:00 – 7:00 PM

Where: Riley Life Industries, Inc.

RSVP to: Karen Sina, SNC Bss. Mgr. at ksina@sustainnc.org

Directions: Riley Life Industries, 1000 Parliament Court #310, Durham, NC 27703.

Directions: From I-40 to Exit #282, to Page Rd, in front of Sheraton Imperial Hotel, to Old Slater Rd. and right on Parliament Ct. OR From I-540 to Exit # 69 , 54West, right on Emporer Blvd, and right on Slater Rd., right on Parliament Ct.

(From The Green Economy Post, 3/8/2010) “Sustainable packaging is becoming a fact of life for companies that seek to remain competitive. Companies employing sustainable packaging report cost savings, improved environmental footprints, brand image and company reputation among other benefits. Those businesses that take the lead now will be ahead of the curve and enjoy the benefits in the future.

by Aysu Katun, Green Economy Post

Companies continue to face growing pressure from consumers, government and the media to make their operations and products more sustainable. One area that companies are increasingly focusing on is sustainable packaging. Internationally, the environmental impacts of packaging are subject to an increasing number of government regulations and co-regulatory agreements. A report from independent market analyst Datamonitor also identifies sustainable packaging as a growing consumer issue, revealing that while sustainable packaging is not yet a primary motivator of purchases, it is increasingly expected by consumers.

While there is no consensus on what actually constitutes sustainable packaging, the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) defines it as packaging that is “sourced responsibly, designed to be effective and safe throughout its life cycle, meets market criteria for performance and cost, made entirely using renewable energy and once used, is recycled efficiently to provide a valuable resource for subsequent generations.”

According to a study by AMR Research, 76% of sustainability efforts are focused on reducing packaging waste. A recent Pike Research study also found that sustainable packaging is expected to grow to 32 percent of the total global packaging market by 2014, up from 21 percent in 2009.

Cost Savings

In spite of these growth projections, critics of sustainable packaging point to higher cost as a reason for companies to avoid its adoption. Yet, according to an IndustryWeek article, companies employing sustainable packaging report cost savings, not increases.

In his article, “Sustainable Packaging Initiatives Are a Viable Cost-Reduction Solution in a Downward Economy,” Ryan Humphrey, Director of Professional Services at ModusLink Global Solutions, urges companies to take a holistic approach that “affords visibility into the entire product lifecycle, from manufacturing and packaging, to delivery, recycling or disposition. When sustainable improvements are considered from this perspective, most organizations will realize a cost savings and positive impact on the bottom line.”

Humphrey further states that companies should analyze product packaging and supply chain processes to develop a model that reduces packaging size and minimizes operational and logistics activities that contribute to GHG emissions. “More compact packaging will result in a reduced material cost. By simplifying the packaging process with fewer pieces, you can extend the savings with less labor. The amount of warehouse space required is reduced, further impacting logistics costs. The domino effect continues through redesigning pallet configuration and shipping more product per pallet.”

For the full article, including recommendations on how your company can save money through reduced packing, please click here.

The Chapel Hill News recently published this article:

“While I love to browse the big box bookshops, there is nothing that says I heart Books like a man who’s devoted 20 years to selling, appraising and genuinely caring about the written word.”

“You have to admire a man who’s figured out a way to harness the power of the Internet to sell a product which many consider endangered by his very choice of sales and marketing.”

“That’s chutzpah. And it’s clearly working.”

“Lynn Roundtree, owner of Armadillo Books, a former mail-order business which crossed over to the Internet about 11 years ago, has an extensive selection of out-of-print, rare, scholarly, and antiquarian books in a wide variety of subject areas.”  To read the rest of the article, click here.

“That’s because Ohio’s rebates are more generous (up to $250, compared with $5 in California or $75 in New York) and open to more buyers (some states limited their rebates to the needy or to those with disabilities), said Doug Moore, senior vice president of appliances for Sears Holdings Corp., the nation’s largest Energy Star appliance retailer.” Click here for the full article by Janet Cho of the Plain Dealer, or go to OhioApplianceRebate.com for more information.

Executive Education: Schools, Firms Gauge Social Impact
By ALINA DIZIK

(From the Wall Street Journal) When Stephanie Poole signed up for a mentor through her business school, she thought the person would be someone she could simply turn to for occasional advice. Instead, she was handed a semester-long project requiring her to assess the social impact of a nearby company.

The Center for Sustainable Enterprise, a part of the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, organized the mentor program and linked Ms. Poole with Kevin Trapani, president of the Redwoods Group, a Morrisville, N.C., insurance provider that works with YMCAs, Jewish community centers and resident camps throughout the country.

Ms. Poole, 25 years old, spent last spring producing a 21-page social audit for Mr. Trapani and the Redwoods Group. Like a traditional financial audit, it focused on what the company is doing in the areas of the environment, ethics and its overall social impact.

It’s an effort a growing number of companies are undertaking, as they look to track the outcomes of social responsibility efforts and prove their value.

For her part, Ms. Poole assessed volunteerism, charitable giving, transparency of company leaders and community engagement. She also implemented a system for Redwoods’ 90 employees to compare their progress against a widely accepted set of metrics for social impact.” Click here to see the Redwoods Group’s 2008 Social Audit.

www.gogreenplus.org

This is a cross-post from Riley Life’s blog.

Riley Life launched our new website in February of this year, and is excited to announce the development of our own dedicated Sustainability section.  Check it out!

(green is the new black)

“Dual flush toilets, rainwater collectors, LED lighting and solar panels are not usually associated with a building dating back to 1905.”

“Not to mention a car care center.”

“After three months of renovations to its Carrboro location, Chapel Hill Tire Car Care Center plans to return to a normal business schedule by mid-April, with a much more sustainable building and lot.”

“It kind of flies in the face of what people think of when they think of a car care place,” said Joel Sheer, president of Sheer Associates Inc. and marketing manager for the 57-year-old business.

“The process was a bit more expensive than using non-sustainable methods, but it certainly wasn’t a deal breaker, owner Marc Pons said.”

“It requires different thinking more than it requires a lot more money,” he said.

Click here to read the rest of this Daily Tar Heel article by Grace Joyal.

RileyLife.com

I have been a long time coming.  A very long time coming.  Check out everything we have to offer (or something like that).  Specifically, take a look at our Blog and Sustainability pages.