Who would have thought—the water bottle as a status symbol? You see the ubiquitous water bottles everywhere. Bottled water, from such exotic lands as France, the Fiji Islands and even “water locale”, basic bottled tap water – is all the rage. But how environmental are these single-use water bottles?

The non-profit organization, As You Sow, surveyed U.S. beverage companies in 2006, developing a report that spurred Nestle Waters to become the first major beverage producer to support legislation that would increase recycling rates. And this past October, it became the first to support an industry-wide goal to recycle 60 percent of plastic bottles by 2018.

“Historically the beverage industry has lobbied against beverage container legislation,” said Amy Galland, As You Sow’s research director and the report’s author.

“We would like to see the industry either work with legislators to create deposit legislation that will be mutually beneficial, or come together with an alternative method that can achieve that goal of 70 percent or more,” Galland said. The nationwide recycling rate is 33 percent, though states with deposit legislation have rates above 70 percent.

GreenBiz.com reports that just prior to the report’s release, the American Beverage Association announced it would be a founding member of The Climate Group’s Recycle Together initiative, which will work with cities and states to increase recycling rates and develop best practices for recycling in communities.

In the report, “Waste & Opportunity,”, 23 companies (including soda, beer, tea and water bottlers) were evaluated in four categories: reduced use of virgin material, use of recycled content, support for and involvement in recovery and recycling programs and legislation, and communication of goals and achievements, and were graded from A-F, with 4.0 being the highest score possible.

In this year’s report, there were no honor roll students. No A/B Students, even. The valedictorian was Coca-Cola, topping the class with a 2.02 average–barely a C. It’s followed by Anheuser Busch, Pepsi and Nestle Waters, which each received a C-.

Red Bull, Fiji Water and Honest Tea got varying D grades. Some of the remaining companies (National Beverage, Miller, Coors, Monarch Beverage, Dr. Pepper/Snapple, Cott, Hansen’s, Starbucks and Crystal Geyser) received F’s, and seven (Adirondack, Arizona, Boston Beer, DS Waters, Jones Soda, New Belgium Beer and Polar Beverage) scored straight zeros.

If I was the Principal at that school, I would make them all take Recycling 101 again—over the summer until they get it right.

To top it off, Nestle has made claims during the past year or so, of having an eco-friendly water bottle because it uses 30% less plastic than it previously had used. This is green washing, at its finest. When you factor in the poor grades these companies received, plus the amount of fuel consumed in transportation, the carbon footprint of bottled water is significant.

If consumers do not want to face mandatory bottle deposit legislation, they should act quickly. Consumers should buy a water filter for their tap water or buy bottled water in gallon-sized jugs, while choosing reusable and recyclable BPA-free water bottles in which to drink it. These bottles, which can be of BPA-free plastic, metal, or even biodegradable plastic, will not end up in landfills—helping to make ensure a greener tomorrow.

Businesses can promote themselves by giving away, or selling, imprinted reusable BPA-free water bottles at trade shows, as a gift with purchase, or just to keep their name in front of their customers. It is a marketing idea that can help save the planet while advertising their brand.

Let’s work together to make reusable water bottles the new status symbol –not the one-time use bottles. Not only is it good for the environment and your waistline, it is good for your wallet, as well.

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Robert Piller, experienced in green marketing campaigns and environmentally-friendly promotional products. His web site includes a comprehensive eco-friendly advertising specialty search, featuring over 250,000 eco promotional items in all price ranges, for anyone interested in going green. The site’s handy search tool helps you easily find recyclable, biodegradable, organic or recycled imprinted promotional items in your price range and time frame. View the Go Green website at EcoMarketingSolutions.com and comment on his blog postings at GreenSpotBlog.com.

Since the price of oil has dropped over 50% in the past year, what effect will it have on the alternative energy industry as a whole?

With cheap oil available, the public outcry has calmed for new sources of energy.  Although this pricing condition is short-lived, the meltdown in the financial sector might have a more lasting and negative impact.

For example, the ethanol industry has seen its share of problems recently due to the skyrocketing costs of corn.  However, as all commodity prices have become turbulent in recent months, some ethanol producers have not adjusted to volatile price swings,  and firms such as VeraSun Energy Corp., have filed for Chapter 11 protection.

The $700 billion government bailout includes an 8-year extension of solar power tax credits, which is very positive.  However, absent an influx in capital investment funds, this industry will not advance as quickly as once believed.

Wind power has also been given a one-year extension of production tax credits.  Again, being that this industry is capital intensive, its growth rate will also slow to a crawl.

With a new administration promising $150 billion over the next ten years in alternative energies, it comes at a very opportune time.

Let’s hope the American people will not be lulled into thinking oil pries will continue to fall forever.  The time for investment into clean energy is now.

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Robert Piller is President of EcoMarketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects at trade shows using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He is a frequent speaker and writer on issues of green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com. You can also visit his blog at www.greenspotblog.com.

From time to time a like to comment and report on companies that are promoting green products or services. I came across a website the other day called Avego.com, that is a ride-share program that links passengers with drivers using the internet or iPhones. Money can be made by drivers and a percentage would go to Avego for setting up the transaction.

Avego was founded by Sean O’Sullivan, a high tech entrepreneur. He admitted, in an article to the Los Angeles Times that it may take years or decades for it to be profitable. As of the time f this blog entry, they only had 74 members worldwide.

My guess is that a company like this needs a quick infusion of member, possibly through social networking and other broad-base marketing. It will also need the support of the major cities involved to help promote it, or it won’t take off. Possibly even tie-in to city-wide events for publicity, like football games, outdoor concerts, 5K and 10K downtown races and parades where organizers and the cities are aiming for ways to reduce traffic congestion.

I like seeing green-friendly companies and new green start ups getting launched, and I know eco-friendly businesses are the wave of the future.

Good luck Avego and thank you for trying to make this a planet greener.

Note: If readers know of other green-friendly businesses that are trying to change the way business-as-normal is done, I would love to hear about it.

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Robert Piller is President of Eco Marketing Solutions, a company that helps businesses to promote their brand and name to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He is a frequent speaker and writer on issues of green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com. You can visit his website at www.ecomarketingsolutions.com.

As people are becoming more environmentally-conscious, what you give and how you wrap your presents can have a major impact on the planet’s eco-systems. By reducing waste and encouraging recycling efforts, you can do your part to help reduce you carbon footprint, while aiming for a cleaner planet.

GreenSpotBlog.com has put together their Top 10 list of simple ways to help make this a greener holiday season.

1. Instead of wasteful wrapping paper, use a re-usable gift bag or tote bag.
2. Choose products that already come in an attractive gift box and just add a silk ribbon to it. Silk ribbons can be re-used many times – and they are natural.
3. Use raffia or hemp ribbon instead of synthetic ribbon. These decorative accessories now come in many colors and shades.
4. Use recycled wrapping paper – or use newspaper to wrap your gifts.That’s right, wrapping a gift in newspaper is back in style and will connote an eco-friendly message to the recipient. You can even use plantable gift tags embedded with flower seeds (www.bloomsforacause.com), and let people know that you are going green.
5. Place a gift inside a flower pot and tie a raffia ribbon around it.This unique packaging will truly stand out. For an added touch, drop in a seed packet as well-two gifts in one.
6. When sending gifts, make sure they are not fragile. Otherwise you will have to add a great deal of bubble wrap or packaging peanuts to prevent damage.
7. Keep in mind the shape and size of gifts when mailing out gifts. Odd-shaped gifts need larger boxes and wasteful packaging, which will not only cost you more money, but it will likely end up in a landfill.
8. Give a gift that grows or blooms. Companies such as www.lovestogarden.com offer a variety of indoor garden gifts that will grow, including a Christmas tree-in-a-can kit that will grow into a giant Christmas tree in about 20 years.
9. Choose eco-friendly gifts, such as those made from recycled or organic material. Vote with your pocketbook by supporting companies that are helping to reduce waste and improve the environment.
10. Recycle your wrapping paper, boxes and other material and encourage your neighbors to recycle, as well.

By becoming a good steward of the planet’s natural resources and discouraging needless waste, we can all help to make this a green holiday season.

©GreenSpotBlog.com

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Robert Piller is President of EcoMarketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com.

Thank goodness for Global Warming and the melting ice caps. Now, because of melting ice caps in Alaska’s Arctic regions, oil tankers, fishing vessels and even cruise ships are able to “venture into a realm once trolled mostly by indigenous people”, according to the Associated Press.

That same report says that business is now growing so rapidly that the U.S. Coast Guard is opening up “two temporary stations on the nation’s northernmost waters, anticipating the day when an ocean the size of the contiguous United States could be ice-free for most of the summer”.

Scientists estimate that within 20 years, the Arctic Ocean will be ice-free during the summer. As the ice melts, sea levels will rise, so, in essence, we will turn land masses into islands in the summer.

What an opportunity for people who have previously vacationed at every land mass and destination around the globe and just want to set sail in waters that were recently covered by glaciers. Global warming will create an opportunity for millions of people to take a cruise ship to an area that was once covered with ice caps and visit the top of a mountain region that is now at sea level.

I can picture hotel development being planned right now for mountainous regions of Greenland for the upcoming summer traffic. All these hotels atop mountains may look strange in the winter, but come summer, it will be sail in, sail out—oceanfront property.

Forget sunny Hawaii and the Caribbean. Pretty soon, it will be “Viva Greenland” for the suntan of a lifetime. And to think, we have global warming to thank for this vacation fantasy come true.

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Robert Piller is President of Eco Marketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com.

The word “sustainability” is used a great deal these days, without any clear or complete definition. In fact, the meaning is rather ambiguous, at best.

Probably the most recognized definition of sustainability comes from the 1987 report Our Common Future—better known as the Brundtland Report—which states that development is sustainable when it “meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.”

Steve Johnson, Administrator, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, stated that ” We have a responsibility to sustain – if not enhance – our natural environment and our nation’s economy for future generations.”

It is interesting to note that neither statement favors environmental protectionism over commerce or vice versa. Rather it states that the two must work together for the common good. It recognizes the needs of the current population must be met in a way that does not adversely affect the environment.

Though there is no clear method to measure sustainability, climate neutrality is considered the highest of sustainability goals by many governments, NGOs, businesses and other institutions. Most charters that deal with sustainability encourage the integration of environmental, economic and social goals in policies and in activities—both on a global and local level.

The EPA’s Sustainability Research Strategy examined several interrelated and complex factors—such as growing human populations, increases in waste production, growing energy demands, and land development—in the hopes of better understanding their effects on the earth’s natural systems.

How does sustainability take into account the growing human overpopulation combined with current lifestyle patterns? It should be no surprise that there are studies that support both sides of the equation—both that the current world population is too large to support sustainability, and others that argue that it is sustainable. What can be agreed upon is that the “ecological footprint” of some countries is greater than others. For example, the ecological pressure of a US resident is believed to be approximately 12 times that of a resident of India and 24 times that of a Somali resident. Even in the Unites States, certain states have a stronger “ecological footprint” than others. For example, nearly one-third of the U.S. population resides in the 17 Western states, which include seven of the nation’s 10 fastest growing states. As these states continue to see a continued growth expansion it will continue to affect the allocation and use of resources.

As the population grows and shifts, it is interesting to note that natural resources have an interrelated effect on one another. According to the EPA’s Sustainability Research Strategy report, “since 1971 each 1 percent increase in worldwide GDP has resulted in a 0.64 percent increase in energy use. Most of the energy has been produced from fossil fuels, so the increased energy use has led to greater emissions of air pollutants from the combustion of these fuels. Nearly half of U.S. water withdrawals are used for cooling power plants and water is also used to scrub air pollutants from flue gas; so rising energy use increases both demand for and pollution of water. Extraction of fossil fuels from the earth requires use of more materials, changes the surrounding land, and produces more wastes (i.e. unwanted materials). Finally, increased energy use impacts ecosystems through such factors as silt runoff from energy extraction activities and the decline in water quality caused by runoff from mining facilities. Interactions like these demonstrate forcefully that a systems approach offers the best strategy for understanding environmental impacts and for designing cost-effective and sustainable policy responses.

In regards to land development, the Sustainability Research Strategy report notes the correlation to impervious surfaces , such as roads and rooftops, and the degradation of water quality due to increased” runoff volume, stream sedimentation and water acidity”. According to the report, a single “one-acre parking lot produces a runoff volume almost 16 times as great as would an undeveloped meadow of the same size.” Therefore, the importance of green building and green design is crucial as the population expands, both for new development and replacement construction.

For generations, the importance and seriousness of sustainability have been understood, so why has there been so much resistance to it? The precautionary principle states that “if there is a risk that an action could cause harm, and there is a lack of scientific consensus on the matter, the burden of proof is on those who would support taking the action.”

Therefore, as long as there are pundits on both sides of the sustainability equation, change will continue to be gradual. However, as global warming continues to heat up the planet, many developing nations are beginning to implement policies in support of sustainable development. Coupled with corporate social responsibility, greater public awareness and a better understanding of carbon footprints, the goal of sustainability can become a reality.

Here’s hoping for a clear and legitimate definition for sustainability, so we can help work towards a solution.

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Robert Piller is President of Eco Marketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com.

In my discussions over the years with clients, one question seems to pop up more than any other: Are Americans willing to pay more for environmentally-friendly products?

For the segment of the population that is most affluent, most educated and most eco-conscious, the answer has always been – yes.

Now, a survey conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media and the Yale School of Forestry & Environmental Studies, shows that an ever increasing number of Americans are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly products.

“Many American consumers, even in the face of economic uncertainty, express a willingness to pay more for environmentally friendly products,” said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of Yale Project on Climate Change.

Half of the respondents to the survey said they would “definitely” or “probably” pay 15% more for eco-friendly clothes detergent (51%) or for an automobile (50%). Forty percent said they would spend 15% more on “green” computer printer paper and 39 percent would do the same for “green” wood furniture.

What has been most surprising in this study is the fact that Americans who said their current financial situation is “fair” or “poor” were just as willing to spend 15% more on such environmentally-friendly products as detergent or wood furniture as those Americans more confident of their current financial situation.

As the green movement continues to grow, this survey should make it clear to industries across the board that green products will continue to increase in demand. Whether you are a manufacturer, small family business or service provider, it is important to increase the development or repackaging of your products as environmentally friendly.

As green becomes the norm, and probably the cost of entry for most products within the next 3 to 5 years, those firms that get a jump start on their competitors will have the best chance of capitalizing on this premium price differentiation. After that time frame, the green premium will most likely disappear and companies will have to look for the next marketing edge.

In the meantime, go green. It makes economic sense.

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Robert Piller is President of EcoMarketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He is a guest speaker and writer on issues pertaining to green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com.

Is God an environmentalist? Does Scripture teach the need for environmental stewardship? Why are churches going green and preaching the “green gospel”.

Well, more than ever, churches, temples and mosques are promoting the green movement in connection are part of a growing trend toward matching science with religion.

Pope John Paul II, once described environmental concerns as a “moral issue” and noted in 1990 that people have “a grave responsibility to preserve [the earth's] order for the well-being of future generations.”

The environmental organization, Sierra Club, has publicly recognized and welcomed the “growing level of commitment and leadership among people of faith working to connect environmental awareness with widely shared values including stewardship, justice, and concern for future generations. We also recognize that lasting social change rarely takes place without the active engagement of communities of faith.”

One organization, the National Council of Churches of Christ has begun a campaign to promote the ideal that, according to their website, says that “God calls us as stewards of God’s creation. Making our churches a more environmentally friendly place can provide a healthy, toxic-free sacred space as well as help us protect God’s creation for current and future generations.”

Another organization, the Interfaith Power and Light, is trying to engage faith communities to “talk actively about environment and faith”.

Their website says, “We are an interfaith ministry devoted to deepening the connection between ecology and faith. Our goal is to help people of faith recognize and fulfill their responsibility for the stewardship of creation.

Specifically, the Interfaith Power and Light campaign is mobilizing a national religious response to global warming while promoting renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. People of faith have an opportunity to put their faith into action and help reduce the devastating effects of global warming.”

This organization is fast growing throughout the South and Southeast and its philosophy is catching on. In addition to offer sermon suggestions and helpful tips on reducing energy consumption inside the places of worships, they have created kits to encourage going green throughout the holidays, including using energy-efficient light bulbs on menorahs for Hanukkah or Advent. This organization also has trained over 150 religious leaders for grass root campaigns to make environmental messages as part of their sermons, as well as part of their building and education programs and in their community life.

The importance of a strong environmental movement is gaining rapidly among all faiths as the cause and impact of global warming on the world’s poor has become more pronounced. One survey shows that in the United States, 67 percent of Americans say they care about the environment because it is “God’s creation.”

What does the future hold for the green movement at churches? You’ve got to have faith.

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Robert Piller is President of EcoMarketing Solutions LLC, a company that helps businesses promote themselves to their customers and prospects using environmentally-friendly promotional products that won’t end up in a landfill. He is a guest speaker and writer on issues concerning green marketing. He can be reached at robert@ecomarketingsolutions.com.

Is Going Green Good Enough Anymore?

Advanced Micro Devices Inc. was planning to open a $270 million campus in Oak Hill, Texas on some environmentally sensitive land. In 2005, in order to help get approval for this construction, the company promised to donate a total of $3 million to help purchase land for a preserve upon completion. Well, just a few days ago, as AMD opened its new campus, they donated the balance of the pledge, $1.5 million. This money will be split among several organizations, according to the Austin American Statesman, including $750,000 to purchase 44 acres near the Pedernales River’s Westcave Preserve, $650,000 for the Hill Country Conservancy and $100,000 to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for its grassland management research and demonstration project.

Why isn’t this project getting thumbs up from everyone? Read more…