Thursday, January 21, 2010

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GreenBuzz :: January 19, 2010
January 19, 2010
In This Issue GreenBuzz
  » The Latest News: SFI's New Certification, Greener Grapes, Cleaner Hybrids, and More...
  » Featured News: 10 Climate Trends That Will Shape Business in 2010
  » Expert Insight From Our Blogs
  » GreenBiz Radio: The Presidio and the Evolution of the Green MBA
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Taking Care of Business

By Joel Makower

Twenty-ten has gotten off to a pretty good start, from the perspective of green business news. The holiday lull has given way to a steady stream of stories about innovation, from cars to computers to cleaners. January's Consumer Electronics Show and Detroit auto show both offered an impressive line-up of green-minded products. At CES, as we report this week, attendees found residential fuel cell systems, projectors made without mercury and outlets that can be controlled through the Web.

But it was another announcement last week that caught my attention. A small, innovative company called Method rocked the staid laundry world with its 8x detergent -- a product so concentrated that Method was able to pack eight times the conventional amount in a bottle. Deploying what it calls its patent-pending Smartclean technology, the new Method detergent, which is a plant-based formula made with 95 percent natural and renewable ingredients, requires 33 percent less energy and oil to produce and is packaged in 36 percent less plastic.

This wasn't Method's first innovation (see here, here and here, for example), and Method isn't the only maker of home cleaning products that's on an innovation streak (see: Seventh Generation). What I like about Method is that its whole brand is focused around cool design and innovation, not green; you can barely find the g-word on its website. That's a recipe for success, in my book: make products that are better, and happen to be greener.

There's lots more this week: BSR's Ryan Schuchard on 10 Climate Trends That Will Shape Business in 2010. (Note that only a couple of them have to do with climate policy or global accords.) Ecosystem Marketplace's Steve Zwick on How Forest Carbon Markets Fared in 2009. (Its one of the few good things to come out of Copenhagen.) Serious Materials CEO Kevin Surace's testimony last week before Congress on how to help small business succeed in the green economy. (Incentives that require people to use products substantially made in America.) Senior contributor Marc Gunther on the Worldwatch Institute's 2010 State of the World report. (Western consumer culture is killing us.) And my post on what it will take to fund the cleantech revolution. (A new breed of investment banks.)



   The Latest News
Method Introduces 8x Concentrated Detergent
By Jonathan Bardelline

Method's newest laundry detergent is four times more concentrated than the 2x-concentrated detergents that have become the norm on store shelves, providing great reductions in materials, energy and carbon emissions.
 ... Read More



Sustainable Forestry Initiative Releases New Standard

Hybrids, Real and Concept, Emerge at Detroit Auto Show

Chinese Manufacturers Replace Lead With Another Dangerous Metal

McDonald's Studies U.K. Cow Emissions

Arizona Utility Converting to Hybrids, DOE Announces $187 Million for Fuel Efficiency Projects

Minnesota Twins Team Up with Pentair to Slash Water Use

California's Building Code Turns a Deeper Shade of Green

UGL Unicco Adds 'The Ionator' to Green Cleaning Arsenal

CES Roundup: Fuel Cells at Home, Casio's Mercury-Free Projector, Controllable Outlets


   Featured News
10 Climate Trends That Will Shape Business in 2010
By Ryan Schuchard

As 2010 begins, there are looming questions about climate change action, but even amid the uncertainty, there are some clear trends that will significantly shape the business-climate landscape.... Read More


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   GreenBiz Radio
The Presidio and the Evolution of the Green MBA
By Joel Makower

Since its founding six years ago, the Presidio Graduate School has been at the forefront of sustainability business education, and Seyed Amiry, the head of the school, talks about the future of green business education, especially in tough economic times.... Listen


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   Columns and Blogs
Joel Makower
Financing Our Cleantech Future
> Read more...
Marc Gunther
Why We Need a Cultural Revolution in Consumption
> Read more...
Steve Zwick
How Forest Carbon Markets Fared in 2009
> Read more...
Kevin Surace
Getting Serious About Job Creation, Energy Efficiency and a New Green Economy
> Read more...

      FEATURED RESOURCES

A Blueprint for Greening New York City's Buildings

New York City's buildings are responsible for 66 percent of energy use and 77 percent of the metropolis' greenhouse gas emissions. This report looks at the challenge posed by green buildings and strategies to address it.

Guide to Greener Electronics, 14th Edition

In Greenpeace's latest Guide to Greener Electronics, Nokia and Sony Ericsson retain top spots on the list while Samsung falls for not meeting a chemical-elimination goal. Greenpeace is now also rating companies based on their support, or silence, on changes to a European Union chemicals law.




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