Simple green shipping from eBay
New durable cardboard box for eBay! 100% recycled and FCS-Certified, these boxes have a designated spaces to let users write their “story” and bring the boxes to life. Boxes are obviously recyclable.
If the fist 100,000 boxes will be reused at least five times, this would protect nearly 4,000 trees, save 2.4 million gallons of water and conserve enough energy to power 49 homes for a year.
Sustainable shopping at Simply supermarket in Milan
The Italian food retail store Simply opens a sustainable point of sale in Milan (Italy). The new supermarket is mainly built with recycled materials, from furniture to carriers. Most part of the offer is made of eco products.
Energy efficiency systems will allow Simply to save 16% of energy compared to other supermarkets of same size. All energy comes from renewables.
Moreover all food products that can’t be sold anymore, though still edible, will go to charity.
Gli accessori d’arredo sono in materiali riciclati: la plastica di carrelli, gettoni, cestini della spesa (…) . Sugli scaffali una ricca selezione di prodotti ecoattenti.”
Dal lato energetico si stima annualmente “un risparmio energetico di 296.800 kWh, pari al 16% dei consumi del supermercato. (…). Inoltre, anche grazie l’utilizzo di energia rinnovabile, si evita l’emissione circa 1 milione di kg di CO2 all’anno. La fornitura elettrica utilizzata per coprire il fabbisogno proviene dalle centrali idroelettriche della Valle d’Aosta.”
Anche l’area del sociale risulta importante, ad esempio tramite ”la donazione dei prodotti alimentari ancora edibili ma non più commercializzabili al Piccolo Cottolengo” (fonte: gdoweek)
The Italian retailer Coop launches a new line of sustainble products
The new line of products includes food (i.e. 300 organic food products) and non food products (i.e. cleaning powders and washing liquids with the European Ecolabel). In the new line there are also single use dishes and glasses in PLA, a natural material.(source: youmark.it)
“Starbucks is pushing ahead with a billboard, poster and press campaign promoting its move to make all of its “espresso-based beverages” from Fairtrade-certified coffee bean suppliers.(…)
Starbucks claims that its move will result in an 18% boost to the amount of Fairtrade coffee sold in the UK and Ireland this year.Following an initial burst promoting the Fairtrade switch, the campaign highlight the benefits for farmers, who will benefit to the tune of £2.5m annually, according to Starbucks.
The company has been working on its brand image in the UK this year. In July it struck a five-year agreement with the Prince’s Trust to work with unemployed young people.” (source: the guardian)
“Wal-Mart Stores is on a mission to determine the social and environmental impact of every item it puts on its shelves. And it has recruited scholars, suppliers, and environmental groups to help it create an electronic indexing system to do that. The idea is to create a universal rating system that scores products based on how environmentally and socially sustainable they are over the course of their lives. (…)
Wal-Mart plans to begin by asking its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world to answer 15 simple questions about the sustainable practices of their companies. Questions include “Have you set publicly available greenhouse gas reduction targets? If yes, what are those targets. Wal-Mart said suppliers that choose not to participate would not be penalized, but warned, “then they’re probably less relevant to us.” (…)
Whatever grumbling the index might create, Wal-Mart executives said that more and more consumers, especially those born from 1980 to 2000, will be making purchasing decisions based not only on price but also on which products do the least harm to the environment and the people, often in poorer countries, who produce them.” (source: New York Times)
