The Sustainable Future

How to find the best carbon offsets

When it comes to buying carbon offsets to neutralize the amount of CO2 our energy consumption creates, all options are not created equal. Here's an article in The Seattle Times with some tips on making an informed, effective choice about your carbon offsets purchase.

The tips include...

Peek behind the curtain. Don't accept claims of carbon-offset providers at face value. Ask questions: Who are their partners and endorsers? Do they undergo independent audits to confirm that the money helps the right projects? How do their prices compare with other providers? Which industry standards do they use?

No double-dipping. Make sure a carbon-offset provider's projects offer what is known in the industry as "additionality." In other words, they should not be projects that would have happened anyway without the funding from carbon offsets (such as projects mandated by a government).

Think twice about trees. While they may help the environment in other ways, tree-planting or reforestation projects are the most controversial types of carbon-offset projects. Trees absorb CO2, but scientists disagree on the effectiveness of tree-planting to reduce global warming.

Look in your own backyard. When carbon-offset providers or projects have Northwest roots, you may have more of a connection and greater accountability.

Power up. You can also "think globally and act locally" by joining the green power programs offered by local utilities.

First things first. Before you invest in carbon offsets or green power, make sure you've done all you can to reduce your environmental impact: Drive less, insulate your home, install energy-efficient appliances and buy less stuff. Carbon offsets will never replace good old-fashioned conservation.

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John McCain scores zero on environmental scorecard

If you're from the US and the environment is a major factor in your voting decisions, you may just want to stay away from John McCain, at least according to the League of Conservation Voters' environmental scorecard:

The scorecards, which rank individual U.S. legislators based on their votes on environmental issues, focused on 15 votes this year--all of which senator McCain missed, resulting in a 0% score.

Presidential candidates historically suffer from absenteeism, due to busy campaign schedules that keep them away from Washington. However, Obama and Clinton both missed only 4 environmental votes, and received scores of 67% and 73% respectively.

McCain's lifetime average, as scored by LCV, is 24%, far below Obama's 86% lifetime average and Clinton's 87% lifetime average.

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Green companies = More satisfaction + more revenue

Besides the feelgood factor, is there a compelling reason for companies to go green? According to a new study, the answer to that is a resounding yes.

U.S. workers favor green companies, and green companies have higher performance, according to two new studies.

A new report reviewing buyer preferences and the performance of green brands found that top performing companies with strong green practices have three times more customer satisfaction than poor performers, as well as 4.7 times more employee satisfaction and 1.7 times more revenue per employee.

"Business people have worried about the cost of being green," said Peter Brockmann, President of Brockmann & Company, the consulting firm that released the report. "We provide evidence that companies that focus on recycling in the office, reducing energy consumption in the office and use video conferencing or telepresence technologies intensively, also have higher customer satisfaction, higher employee satisfaction and higher revenues per employee."

Not only do companies with a green approach yield more satisfaction and higher performance, they're also in line with what employees say they want, according to another recent study.

In a separate survey, commissioned by National Geographic magazine, more than 80% of U.S. workers polled said they believe it is important to work for a company or organization that makes the environment a top priority. Yet, only 53% currently work for a company or organization that implements environmental or sustainable programs in the workplace, the poll revealed.

[hat tip to Sara Moore for the link]

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Genetically modified food: Pros and cons

I've never been a big fan of the idea of GMO's (genetically modified organisms), but if I'm honest, I have to say that has been more of a knee-jerk opinion than a well-informed view.

I'm reading Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply right now, which is offering up a generous helping of the cons of GMO's. I wanted to start getting a better picture of what both sides of the argument are saying so I can develop a better-informed opinion, so I started doing some research.

Here are some of the articles I ran across with outlining the pros and cons of genetically modified food.

Genetically modified food: Pros and cons

GM Crops: The arguments pro and con

The Risks and Benefits of Genetically Modified Crops: A Multidisciplinary Perspective

Genetic engineering: The controversy

BBC: Food under the microscope

Genetically modified food: Pros and cons

Pros and cons of genetic engineering

The pros and cons of GM food

GM Products: Benefits and Controversies

Weighing Pros and Cons of Genetically Modified Crops in Africa

Pros, cons of modified food

The pros and cons of GE food

Pro-GM

GM benefits outweigh risks

Study finds benefits in GM crops

A report on genetically engineered crops

Monsanto video gallery

The Alliance for Better Foods

The benefits of GM crops

Anti-GM

Who benefits from GM crops?

Genetically engineered food

Genetically engineered (GE) food - safety problems

Bio-technology myths

Statements on the dangers of GM by scientists

Debunking the myths of genetic engineering in food crops

The risks of genetic engineering

Myths spread by the pro-GM, anti-organic movement

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Eco-friendly boating

Seattle, where I live, has one of the highest per capita boat ownership rates in the world. Spending time out on the water can be a wonderful way to connect with nature, but from nasty paints to spilled fuel, it can also wreak havoc on the environment. If you love your boat, but want to make the experience as low-impact as possible, here's a great page chock full of eco-friendly boating tips.

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Seasonal eating guide

If you're in the US and you want to try your hand at both eating local and eating food that's in season, here's a great seasonal eating guide on The Sustainable Table that maps out in-season produce by state.

Why eat local and in-season? As the site puts it...

By purchasing local foods in-season, you eliminate the environmental damage caused by shipping foods thousands of miles, your food dollar goes directly to the farmer, and your family will be able to enjoy the health benefits of eating fresh, unprocessed fruits and vegetables. Buying seasonal produce also provides an exciting opportunity to try new foods and to experiment with seasonal recipes. And it simply tastes better!

What's not to love about that?

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Which is better...organic or local?

Have you ever been at the grocery store and felt that little pang of guilt for buying those organic bananas from thousands of miles away? Would it be better to buy something from closer to home, even if it wasn't organic?

Sure, organic is better for you and better for the environment, but what about the fossil fuels burned up in transporting those organic bananas to your local grocery store? Does that offset the positive environmental impact?

If you've ever gone in circles thinking about questions like that, you'll find this article interesting. It takes on the question, which is better, organic or local?

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Global poverty facts and statistics

From my perspective here in Seattle, it's hard to really grasp what a devastating impact poverty has on much of the world. It's hard to even grasp what poverty even means for much of the world's population.

Here is a page from the UN Millenium Project with some poverty facts and figures. Obviously it doesn't paint a picture of the actual day to day reality people face, but it does put it in a big picture perspective.

For example...

• Every year six million children die from malnutrition before their fifth birthday.
• More than 800 million people go to bed hungry every day...300 million are children.
• Of these 300 million children, only eight percent are victims of famine or other emergency situations. More than 90 percent are suffering long-term malnourishment and micronutrient deficiency.
• More than 2.6 billion people-over 40 per cent of the world's population-do not have basic sanitation, and more than one billion people still use unsafe sources of drinking water.

I can look at the numbers, but somehow I can't truly wrap my brain around them. I suppose it's an emotional self-defense mechanism of sorts.

Regardless of whether or not I can really comprehend it, as I sit here in my economic ivory tower, it's good to have some kind of reality check on what's really going on in much of the world. It's too easy to get complacent.

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Green mutual fund outshines the market

Want more proof that green has hit the mainstream? Take a look at the performance of the Global EcoTrends green mutual fund.

As this article in TheStreet.com describes it...

Not everyone is sold on environmentalism, but it's hard to argue with the returns of some mutual funds that invest in "green" companies. The recent performance of the Allianz RCM Global EcoTrends Fund (AECOX) should convert skeptics faster than a code-red air-quality alert.

The $131 million fund has appeared in the top 10% of stock funds for several months this year. It advanced 28.13% in the six months through August, smartly outperforming the 5.71% total return of the S&P 500 over the same period.

Even more impressive, the fund turned in a very respectable 4.26% return for the three months ended Aug. 31, compared with a 3.28% decline in the S&P 500.

Since inception in January of this year, it is up 19.3%.

Global EcoTrends isn't the only "green" fund generating attractive returns, but it is more diversified than most of its cohorts. Other recent ecological standouts focus on a single industry, such as clean energy or clean water.

Allianz's fund invests in both of these areas; its "eco energy" investments include renewable energy -- such as wind, solar and geothermal -- in addition to firms involved in energy efficiency, "microgeneration" of electricity and hybrid cars.

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Co-op America's Green Business of the Year finalists

Looking for some business role models to admire? Want proof that the business world isn't really inherently evil and actually has a great potential for good? Want to just plain ol' feel warm and fuzzy about what what entrepreneurs come up with as green thinking starts to permeate our culture?

Look no further than Co-op America's People's Choice Awards. Here are the ten finalists for Green Business of the Year:

1. Flexcar
2.  Greenfeet.com: The Planet's Homestore
3.  Green Living Now
4.  Manitoba Harvest Hemp Foods and Oils
5.  Mountains of the Moon
6.  Only Natural Pet Store   
7.  Pizza Fusion   
8.  ReusableBags.com
9.  UsedCardboardBoxes.com 
10.  Yoga Nine/Buddha Body Fair Trade Store

Check out their web sites, then vote for them. The winner will be announced  at the Green Festival in San Francisco on November 10th.

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