Newsweek's Green Rankings

Hello Readers!

Check out this link for a ranking of the greenest and not so green companies according to Newsweek's latest comprehensive listing of the largest corporations. How do the companies you respect, don't respect, purchase from or that you ignore stack up?

Let me know if you find some surprises!

Also, check out this GreenBiz review of the rankings if the list seems a bit too daunting! GreenBiz also has an overview of how these rankings are reflected in commonly held investments. You may be shocked to find that you are participating in the financial boons of the worst polluters! Check out that link here.

How Can Wal-Mart Help Advance Sustainability?

Just to be up-front at the start, I am not a fan of Wal-Mart. I believe they mistreat and bully suppliers and potential suppliers as well as play huge roles in eliminating smaller businesses from local landscapes. They have been ruthless.

That said, since they are currently a major player in the global economy, anything they do that both support sustainability and advances it can't be all that bad!(?) If the ruthlessness they have utilized so effectively to become the world's largest retailer can be applied to increasing sustainability in our economies, good!

In this GreenBiz.com article, the author begins a series of writings that address how suppliers can position themselves for success relative to Wal-Mart's sustainability standards. For a better idea of their commitment to sustainability, take a look at Wal-Mart's Sustainability Index, Version 1.0 .

Essentially, if you cannot achieve these standards you will not find your products on the shelves at Wal-Mart. Tune in to the ongoing reviews of the development of this trend.

Microfinance in the US: Will There Be a Green Focus?

The world is a better place with effective microfinancing entities offering loans to people with drive, initiative and dreams who haven't found the finances to move forward. With the Nobel Committee's recognition of Muhammed Yunnus in 2006, a world of attention fell upon this unique and highly effective way to get folks up out of poverty and into their local economies.

An article I recently came across details and briefly discusses efforts by Kiva, another well known microfinance lender, to begin operations in the United States. The perspective of the author is that these loans should have "green" and socially responsible prerequisites.

I agree with that perspective. Kiva has the chance to create very clear and achievable criteria for those who seek loans from them. This criteria should not support business which harms the environment or is not supportive of social responsibility.

What do you think? If you agree, get in touch with Kiva to let them know that sustainability must be at the forefront of their decision to loan. This organization has done an excellent job thus far and I am certain they will continue to pave the way and can do so in a manner supportive of a green economy.

Check out Kiva here.

Other excellent microlenders are:

Accion International

Grameen Foundation

Continuing Cuban Experiment

Here is an informative overview of real grassroots efforts in the Cuban capital of Havana to recover lost agricultural roots. Clearly one of the most damaging impacts of the revolution in Cuba was the transfer of energy and effort from producing foods crops for the island's population over to the virtually exclusive production of export crops such as tobacco and sugar.

This story offers insight into what many small farmers (organiponicos) have been able to do use small plots of city land to produce large amounts of fruits and vegetables. Finally, the Cuban people have access to a wide variety of healthy options that previously had been very hard to come by as well as very pricey!

Havana has almost 200 urban allotments - known as organiponicos - providing four million tons of vegetables every year - helping the country to become 90% self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables.

Every city in the world is more than capable of achieving great levels of capacity to produce fruits and vegetables as well as herbs (both medicinal & culinary). In my eyes, if rooftops, porches, patches of dirt, parts of underused parks, etc. were converted to cultivating food crops or other crops that could be made into products (hemp, sisal, etc.), our world's cities would be healthier and happier places. Now, isn't being healthier and happier integral to sustainability?

This dynamic keeps people active, employed and productive. My own garden this season has produced endless greens like lettuce, arugula, chard and kale as well as cucumbers, basil, tomatoes (still mostly green!), beets and tomatillos. I have saved quite a bit of money, worked the soil and added value to my community. Even at home, on my porch, I have grown lettuce and tomatoes and some herbs. We have even been able to give many pound of veggies away to friends and neighbors as well as trade them for other goods. If we replicate this even just a little bit, the impact would be enormous!

Urban agriculture is essential to global sustainability. Individuals and businesses can participate. Imagine a business converting the rooftop of its building into a beautiful garden that would offer tranquility, food, and climate control! Awesome!

Here is a link to the video:

The vegetable gardeners of Havana

Save Money, Use Less Paper

If you operate your own business or work in one where invoices are a constant juggling act, you may be pleased to hear about Invoice Cloud, a paperless invoicing or e-invoice option.

If you are "old" enough to remember the start of the computer age, you perhaps can relate to the promises it had of reducing (or eliminating) paper in our offices!! My personal experience is almost the exact opposite! In fact, I remember a fellow I worked with who used to print out every e-mail he received to read them in hard copy! I digress!!

Invoice Cloud may just be the type of service we need to begin to reduce the amount of paper we generate and to help reduce the massive amount used just for invoicing.

• Invoices are responsible for 10% of all trees cut down worldwide.
• Creating paper invoices uses as much electricity each year as the consumption of 20 million households.
• A year`s worth of invoices take up as much landfill space as 10 football fields each stacked more than 100 feet deep with paper.
• Getting rid of 12 billion pieces of paper means saving almost one milliontrees and 240,000 tons of paper every year.
• Slashing paper invoicing by half also translates to reducing our carbon dioxide (CO2) footprint by almost 250,000 tons.

A reminder, please ask all the important questions of this company as part of your sustainability due diligence.

Check to see just how sustainably they operate their own business. 

What kind of energy do they use? 
Do they have a company-wide recycling program?
Any energy efficiency policies?
Is their website hosted by a green host?
What kind of involvement to they have with their community?

Add your own questions as well. The key is to help these companies with great green ideas who are not aware of how they themselves can be greener and operate more sustainably.