Saturday, August 30, 2008
Going Green Electronically in Huntington Beach
Pay your utilities on line and help to be green. Electronic payments from utility customers exceeded 20,000-representing over 40% of the utility customers’ total payments for that month. This saved customers the expense of checks and postage and saved the city staff from individually processing these 20,000 payments. In addition, AutoPay applications continue to increase, and total payments received in July equaled almost $670,000-which is a new monthly high. The City Treasurer’s Department has been implementing electronic options over the last several years. Go to the website at www.surfcity-hb.org/payments to see all of the customer payment options.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Wal-Mart Strives To Be More Green
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is telling its suppliers that it's not enough to simply provide eco-friendly products. The world's largest retailer wants to be able to tell its customers the stories behind the products, of how they came to be and how sustainable they are. The company has a strategy with four points of emphasis for its sustainability marketing. Wal-Mart wants to promote waste reduction and recycling, natural resources, energy and social or community impact.
Wal-Mart has been putting increasing emphasis on ways it can be environmentally friendly and ways that sustainable methods can lower costs. From motion detectors that turn on lights only when customers are in the aisle to fuel conservation to innovations in packaging, the company has been approaching the effort from multiple angles.
Wal-Mart has given buyers an Aug. 18 deadline to submit products for possible placement the company's “Earth Month” promotion next year. They will pick products based on marketing potential, sustainability impact and business relevance.
The company highlighted Earth-friendliness of 50 products, including compact fluorescent light bulbs and Coca-Cola branded T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles. They want products with stories to tell like SunChips, which has an all-solar plant in Modesto, Calif., and Majestic Rubber Mulch, which is made from recycled tires from Wal-Mart stores.
Consumers are growing very suspicious of green labels. Terra Choice Marketing recorded more than 1,000 products from six retailers last year, each with eco-friendly claims. He said all but one made unsubstantiated claims. Wal-Mart is taking this stuff very seriously and have set serious goals. The challenge now is, how can they meet their goals. Wal-Mart wants to provide suppliers with more information on how to produce a sustainable product and provide support in developing those products. The company wants to avoid hidden trade-offs in how products are produced and help companies show proof of green claims.
Wal-Mart has been putting increasing emphasis on ways it can be environmentally friendly and ways that sustainable methods can lower costs. From motion detectors that turn on lights only when customers are in the aisle to fuel conservation to innovations in packaging, the company has been approaching the effort from multiple angles.
Wal-Mart has given buyers an Aug. 18 deadline to submit products for possible placement the company's “Earth Month” promotion next year. They will pick products based on marketing potential, sustainability impact and business relevance.
The company highlighted Earth-friendliness of 50 products, including compact fluorescent light bulbs and Coca-Cola branded T-shirts made from recycled plastic bottles. They want products with stories to tell like SunChips, which has an all-solar plant in Modesto, Calif., and Majestic Rubber Mulch, which is made from recycled tires from Wal-Mart stores.
Consumers are growing very suspicious of green labels. Terra Choice Marketing recorded more than 1,000 products from six retailers last year, each with eco-friendly claims. He said all but one made unsubstantiated claims. Wal-Mart is taking this stuff very seriously and have set serious goals. The challenge now is, how can they meet their goals. Wal-Mart wants to provide suppliers with more information on how to produce a sustainable product and provide support in developing those products. The company wants to avoid hidden trade-offs in how products are produced and help companies show proof of green claims.
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