Unadulterated

Consumers want to know if the products they use contain harmful chemicals. Does this mean companies should label products “free-of” certain chemicals to help consumers? Maybe, but with the US Federal Trade Commission cracking down on misleading chemical claims, this should be done carefully.

Devastating losses of the lowly honeybee hold lessons for business sustainability strategies and systems-based analyses.

We spend 90% of our time indoors where air pollution is two to five times greater than outdoors. There aren’t any cars driving through the house to pollute the air, so where does the pollution come from? It is probably not surprising that tobacco smoke and mold pollute indoor air, but common household products are another key contributor. The good news is that manufacturers can protect public health and demonstrate their leadership by reducing the contribution their products make in polluting indoor air.

A new report found that companies using business model innovation were more than twice as likely to find that their sustainability initiatives add business value. That is a tremendous argument for investing the time, energy, and creativity in developing new and custom approaches to address difficult challenges.

There are many questions that go into understanding “green” eggs and ham, as the Dr. Seuss-inspired poem above suggests. Asking questions about environmental, social, and economic impact is a typical starting point for advancing product sustainability. For animal-based food products, sustainability also needs to address the animal’s care. The top animal welfare issues companies are tackling concern cages for egg-laying hens and gestation crates for sows. But does addressing these animal welfare issues make for green eggs and ham?

When we think of passing Thanksgiving traditions on to our children, it’s not just the recipe for stuffing and the tradition of togetherness, we also usually envision turkey as the centerpiece of the meal. Yet 99% of turkeys in the U.S. food supply come from one breed — the “Broadbreasted White,” famous for its large white breast meat. While high yielding, this breed isn’t able to reproduce naturally and must rely on artificial insemination — without human assistance the breed wouldn’t survive.

If you haven’t looked at the Federal Trade Commission’s “Green Guides”, now is the time. The FTC published an update to the Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims on October 1. This was a long awaited change since the last update was in 1998. The Green Guides provide guidance on how to make claims about the green attributes of products and packaging. A significant step forward in the updated Green Guides was made with new details on how to use green seals of approval and certification programs that add strength to their meaning. This is a win for consumers – as well as for companies that have seen a proliferation of competitors’ claims dilute their product’s credible green certification and those looking to add certification claims and seals of approval to their green products.