When we launched the omop last year, hundreds of you called and emailed us to tell us about your newfound floor love. That’s right, mopping the floor was actually fun, thanks to the ergonomic design, compostable sweeper dusters that grabbed everything in sight, reusable microfiber cloths, and yummy-smelling non-toxic floor cleaners. Some of you even said the omop was “sexy.” Imagine our delight!
method is now using bottles made of 100% recycled plastic!
You’ve heard the term “cradle to grave,” right? In marketing-speak, it refers to the importance of getting consumers hooked on your brand while they’re young so they’ll remain loyal to you over the course of their lifetime. And hey, that’s something we aspire to, although not in a creepy way.
Environmentally speaking, however, “cradle to grave” refers to the life cycle of a product, from manufacture (“cradle”) to disposal (“grave”). Putting our bottles and other packaging back into circulation has always been important to us, which is why we encourage all you people against dirty to recycle every scrap of it.
Ever wonder what it's like to work at a cleaning company? Probably not, I'm guessing, but at the very least it's gotta be clean. 'Clean' for method means a lot of things but healthy and sustainable is definitely high on the list. Oh, spotless. Messy on the other hand, is not.
At our offices, we follow the LEED Green Building Rating System for guidance on how we keep clean and green workspaces. This is a voluntary rating system that evaluates the environmental performance of a building over its life cycle. Like LEEDS we look a five categories:
Knee-deep (literally) in the holidays with the flood of seasonal catalogs, it's no wonder that I often question how many millions of catalogs are sent out each year. Given that the life-cycle of a catalog in my home is about 12 seconds (the average time it takes to lug them to the recycling bin) one might wonder why catalogs are still so prevalent in these days of online shopping. Well, with the boon of the internet shopping, catalogs are not only not declining, they're actually increasing. Even online giant Ebay which doesn't even sell its own goods sends out a catalog.
Sustainability is hitting a new level. First there was sustainable agriculture, then there was sustainable clothing, and now I am proud to announce we have sustainable dancing!
A new club opened in the Netherlands called Sustainable Rotterdam. It captures the energy of movement provided by dancers and uses that energy to power the lights and music. The "greening" of the dance club will also be enhanced by walls that change color according to the heat generated in the room, toilets that will use rainwater, and biological beer (not sure what that means but it sounds healthy).
I love when we are able to convert the energy from an ordinary activity to energy used to make the world a better place. We have to get one of these clubs going in the US!
Zanzibar, more known for its idyllic beaches than its environmental progressiveness, has officially banned the import and production of plastic bags. Recognizing that discarded plastic bags damage marine environments as well as being eyesores, they've banned them in hopes of restoring the pristine island environment. It's a move both intended to enhance their natural environment as well as preserve their bustling tourism industry - the mainstay of Zanzibar's economy.
Such a move naturally comes with criticism, including skepticism on the ability to enforce the measure and whether the economy will be negatively affected by the ban. As an alternative, the government has suggested raffia bags. Rwanda is another country that has entirely banned the use of plastic bags.
If developing countries like these can take such progressive environmental measures, could they work in more advanced, richer countries like the US? Tell us what you think.
To preface this, I should say that I used a pit latrines everyday for 2 years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in southern Africa. It was never a pleasant experience - the smell, the flies, the fact that a communal tap and fields of crops were situated 10 feet downhill of my lavatory. And, I had a nice latrine!
Do you remember Ferris Bueller's Day Off - the scene where after taking a joyride in dad's Ferrari, they decide to roll back the odometer with the ill-conceived notion of running the car in reverse? Obviously, it's a silly notion to think one can reclaim the miles from the day's drive, but what if you could neutralize the emissions in a similar, low-tech manner? No, it doesn't require putting your car up on blocks, but it can be as simple as calculating your CO2 emissions and offsetting them with funding towards clean energy research.
Each year, the average car emits over 10,000 pounds of CO2 into the atmosphere. Terrapass based in Menlo Park, CA offers a service enabling you to offset the emissions of your car by purchasing a pass that funds clean energy projects that directly reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Terrapass claims that when you purchase their annual pass, "your money funds renewable energy projects
such as wind farms. These projects result in verified
reductions in greenhouse gas pollution. And these reductions counterbalance your own
emissions." Admittedly, Terrapass is not a substitute for renewable, alternative fuels but until these options are more widely embraced, it's a step in the right direction.
Frankly we do give a damn! And that is why I'm happy to say, we've chosen to go with renewable energy.
About 6 months ago I polled our office to calculate our business’s carbon footprint. I asked every employee how often they drove to work, their commute distance, if they carpooled, if they took public transportation, how often they flew for business, how far on average, etc. It was an overwhelming task, even for a small office, and the results were surprising. (You might try to calculate your own carbon footprint…you'll be surprised especially if you live in the 'burbs). I passed all this information on to a company called Green Mountain Energy which measures the impact companies have on the earth and then offset it through the purchase of wind energy credits (hence the clever title).
The results: for each year we participate, we would offset 950,000 pounds of CO2 (method’s entire estimated carbon footprint), or as much as a car would produce in over 1 million miles of driving.
Check out other businesses that have also gone carbon neutral.
