Environmentally tracking your product: The Footprint Chronicles

Patagonia, an excellent outdoor gear organization, has had a longstanding commitment to environmental sustainability. Their straightforward and honest Footprint Chronicles allow you to track the earth impact of any of their products.

Thanks to Triple Pundit for the tip.

Respecting the climate means living locally

Residents of Las Vegas - one of the fastest growing cities in America - are learning that living in the desert means living a bit differently from their prior ways. In particular, a severe water shortage - the worst drought in recorded history - has created a new interest in xeriscaping - landscaping that minimizes water use. In Vegas, that means less grass and more cactus.

The New York Times has a nice 5-minute video on xeriscaping and water conservation in Las Vegas.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority is also finding ways to raise awareness of the water issues, with some clever public service advertisements:

Sustainability is good business

Here's an excellent story of Interface, a carpet tile company driven to environmental excellence by its CEO Ray Anderson. In the 1990s, Anderson decided he wanted to make the company green.

He challenged his colleagues to set a deadline for Interface to become a “restorative enterprise,” a sustainable operation that takes nothing out of the earth that cannot be recycled or quickly regenerated, and that does no harm to the biosphere.

The deadline is 2020, but the payoffs have been more immediate.

Use of fossil fuels is down 45 percent (and net greenhouse gas production, by weight, is down 60 percent), he said, while sales are up 49 percent. Globally, the company’s carpet-making uses one-third the water it used to. The company’s worldwide contribution to landfills has been cut by 80 percent.

The savings aren't limited to the environment.

Interface sustainability efforts have saved the company more than $336 million since 1995.

The New York Times story also has a nice video on Anderson and the company's efforts.