Recently, as you can ready about at Brandcurve, Tropicana recently made waves by changing the look of their packaging drastically.

All carton concerns aside, this company (which is part of Pepsi) has been making waves in the world of green as well. Instead of just implementing policies and setting goals, though, the company actually sat down to figure out where they were. Its a question every business should ask: what’s the carbon footprint of my product?

Tropicana found that every half-gallon carton of OJ emits about 3.75 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. 60% of that comes from juice production, with 22% coming from distribution and 15% coming from packaging. The other 3% is on the consumer’s head- it comes from use and disposal.

Says Bryan Lembke, a manager on the project: “If you don’t measure it, you can’t improve it.” And he’s right. More companies need to get estimates as to where they stand before beginning that long road to becoming greener.

Tropicana’s green efforts include donating money to preserve the rainforest, recycling waste products, making full use of the oranges they grow (even the peels and seeds are made into cattle feed), installing water capturing systems, using landfill gas, and more. You can ready about all of theseefforts at their website.

[Thanks to Miki for the tip]

Photo via Tropicana.

Post from: EveryJoe

Who’s Going Green: Tropicana

Fast food isn’t exactly the healthiest or greenest option out there, but if you must indulge, White Castle might be the place to go. The company recently announced that they’ll be making a switch to more sustainable packaging at over 400 restaurant sites over the next few months.

White Castle, the king of the slider, already uses recycled cardboard to package their frozen foods, and they’ve been recycling their bun containers since the 1960s. In addition, White Castle uses LED lighting at some of their locations, has plans for a rainwater collection system, and uses green building materials for new restaurants and renovations.

Greasy fried food? We all need guilty pleasures. If this one is yours, at least choose a responsible company.

Picture via nitewind23 at sxc.hu.

Post from: EveryJoe

Who’s Going Green: White Castle

Over the next week, we’re counting down the ten New Years resolutions you business NEEDS to make. To read them all, check out the full green resolutions list here.

Resolution #2: Buy only organic and/or fair trade food products.

Every business uses food or drink products – and with just about every food or drink, you can choose green options. Start with your break room and expand out to include your business dinners, office birthday parties, and more. Here are some links to get your started:

• How to Eat Organically during Business Trips
• Green Coffee Resources
• Recyclable and Compostable Cups
• City Harvest
• Green Lunch Bag Options

Keep in mind that buying local is usually the best option if you’re purchasing food for any kind of office party. Use a local bakery for your chain, rather than a chain, for example.

Post from: EveryJoe

Green Resolution #2: Buy Organic

According to reports, the Subway restaurant chain will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by – get this – THREE MILLION POUNDS just by replacing ONE incandescent light bulb with a CFL bulb in each store. That’s the same as removing 275 cars from the road for an entire year.

For more food industry news, check out Daily Blender, including this past articles on Subway.

Should you choose green lighting?

Without a doubt, the answer is YES. CFL bulbs look expensive at first compared to regular light bulbs, but trust me – you make your money back really quickly. Your electricity bills will drop, AND you’ll be doing something good for the environment. On top of that, CFLs will last a lot longer, so you’ll save money there too!

Here’s how I like to deal with the cost of green lighting:

If you replace all of the bulbs in your business (or house for that matter) at once, you’ll spend hundreds of dollars. Instead, every time you are shopping, pick up 1-5 bulbs. Replace lights as they burn out, or replace bulbs that you know are fairly old (and likely to burn out soon – you don’t want to create unnecessary waste by replacing bulbs you JUST bought).

When you spread out the purchases over weeks or months, the money is easier to find in your budget.

You can purchase CFL bulbs almost anywhere you can purchase regular bulbs, but here are some links if you want to order some right away. Note, these are the Amazon NEW prices, so some resellers (if you click the links) are selling them for even less than the price I’ve posted.

• GE 13-watt pack of six ($20.52, or $3.42 per bulb)
• Globe mini 23-watt pack of four ($15.99, or $4 per bulb)
• Honeywell mini 23-watt pack of 18 ($54.00, or $3.05 per bulb)

For reference, a 13-watt CFL is the equivalent of a 60-watt incandescent and a 23-watt CFL is the equivalent of a 100-watt incandescent. 

Post from: EveryJoe

Subway and Green Lighting

Earlier, Kraft set forth goals to cut energy consumption by 25%, as well as to cut down on waste by 15%. However, they’re going a step further and testing out a new program at two of their New York cream cheese and string cheese factories in which they use whey (the by-product of cheese) to create energy.

They’ll turn the whey into bio-gas, which serves two purposes – to cut down on the company’s overall natural gas purchases and to reduce the amount of waste hauled away (which cuts down on both landfill overload and transportation needs). The whey will be able to produce enough energy to cover about 1/3 of each facility – or, enough energy to heat more than 2,600 local homes.

Cheers to Kraft for a responsible decision! You can read more about this story from GreenBiz.com.

Post from: EveryJoe

Kraft: Saving the Environment, One Slice at a Time

When traveling, however, eating organically isn’t as easy. Most chain restaurants are just now starting to offer healthy options, let alone organic options.

However, there are some that are including organic items on their menus. On your next business trip, here are some familiar places you can eat with the environment in mind:

• Panera Bread
• Chipotle (read more here)
• Ruby Tuesday
• EVOS
• Burgerville
• Whole Foods Market (check out their deli and bakery for lunch choices)

Remember that not ALL of the foods offered at these locations are organic. You have to ask (or carefully peruse the menu) to find the organic options. Of course, before you leave, you can also check out local options. Many non-chain restaurants purchase foods from local farmers and have health, organic, fabulous food.

Don’t rely on yourself and the Yellow Pages to find a good options once you get there, or you’ll likely end up just giving up and eating at the hotel restaurant. Instead, go with a plan. Check out LocalHarvest, Organic Highways, and Organic List to find restaurants ahead of time for your travel location.

Post from: EveryJoe

Eating Organically during Business Trips

To help alleviate the cost of combating this problem the UN has created the FEED bag. Owning your own cloth bags for grocery shopping is already a great green option, but with each FEED bag you buy, you’re paying for meals for one child for an entire school year. When children get fed for free at school, parents are more likely to send them, so you’re promoting education as well.

To read more about the FEED bag or make a purchase, click on the picture above and you’ll head to the Amazon page.

Post from: EveryJoe

The FEED Bag

Inarguably, though, it can get a little expensive to purchase green coffee. One reader emailed me what I thought was a great tip:

“At our office, everyone who drinks coffee chips in and we take turns buying the better green coffee. We trade off once a week, so everyone only has to buy about ten pots of coffee every three months. If we need more than two pots in the morning, we have a can of generic that we make to hold us over. Whoever buys the coffee gets to pick it – but the only rule is that it has to be green, and if you choose a flavored coffee, you have to also provide a non-flavored option.

That’s a great way to go green in a small business environment if the boss won’t pay the extra money for environmentally-friendly beans.

Of course, if you are the boss, you should consider it, but if you simple don’t have the money in the budget, talk to your employees – if there is interest, you can put a “sustainable coffee fund” empty can near the pot and encourage employees to donate their extra change every so often. Every time the money in the cup covers the extra cost of the green coffee, purchase it! Soon, you’ll probably be surprised to find that you never have to buy cheap non-green coffee.

But enough rambling. Here are some great resources for green coffee:

• Allegro Coffee: http://www.allegrocoffee.com
• Caffe Ibis: http://www.caffeibis.com
• Coffee Pause: http://www.coffeepause.com
• DaSilva fine brazillian coffee: http://www.dasilvausa.com/
• Elan Organic Coffees:http://www.elanorganic.com/
• Green Mountain Coffee: http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/
• Jeremiah’s Pick Coffee:http://www.jeremiahspick.com/
• Swiss Water Decaffeinated Coffee Co, Inc.: http://www.swisswater.com/

These companies are all a part of the Organic Trade Association! If you have a favorite green coffee, please let us all know about it below in a comment!

Post from: EveryJoe

Green Coffee Resources

According to the law, under EPA regulations, it is legal to dump sewage sludge on farmland. This byproduct of waste water treatment, according to some, is full of nutrients that enrich the earth when used as a fertilizer. However, research also indicates that sludge is filled with heavy metals, pathogens, and toxic chemicals. Center for Food Safety Executive Director Andrew Kimbrell says that the dumping of sludge on farmlands has killed farm animals, devastated crop yields, and even inflicted serious illness and health disorders on people who live and work near the dump sites.

Earlier this year, the Center for Food Safety filed a petition to have the dumping practices stopped, but the EPA determined that there was not enough negative evidence against it. Proponents say that dumping is stil done because it is a cheap, fast way to get rid of the sludge.

Kimbrell is confident that the court will rule on their side, since a judge ruled during past lawsuit regarding the sludge (filed by farmer Andy McElmurray) that the EPA’s sludge regulations studies were “fudged,” “fabricated,” and “fraudulent.”

“You rarely have a court decision bolstering your position,” Kimbrell added. “We look forward to a positive ruling on our petition, which calls for a full moratorium on this until they’ve done a full assessment of the food safety, human health, and environmental impacts.”

You can read more here.

Post from: EveryJoe

The EPA is getting Sued…Again

Freshëns’ cold cups are made using sustainably-grown, renewable resources, but better yet, the liquid-resistant material used to coat the cups can be consumed by microbes, meaning that you can compost these cups.

“Premiering the first compostable and fully renewable cold cup is an honor for us,” said Freshëns Quality Brands President John Stern. “Though the cup does cost a little more, we believe it is an imperative element not only in our own corporate responsibility but in that of our industry. Freshëns has chosen to make positive decisions to protect and preserve our planet for ourselves and future generations.”

Did you know that individuals alone use over 40 billion paper cups every year in the United States – and that’s not counting the over 25 billion plastic and foam cups also purchased and use. Businesses use even more.

While I’m still an advocate of taking your own coffee mug and water bottle to work, because most companies, at some point, have guests, it is important to stay stocked with disposable cups. Using recycled cups is great, but now Freshëns’ cups now give you an even greener option.

For more information, please visit www.freshens.com.

Picture with permission from Freshëns.

Post from: EveryJoe

Freshëns: Giving Business New Cup Options