Greenpeace

Shop Sustainable Seafood

scleaver — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 10:11:37 -0500

GreenPeace released the supermarket rankings on their seafood sustainability. As reported in The Food Section, Greenpeace graded 20 supermarket chains (national and regional) on their seafood purchasing and sales policies and practices.

Of the national and regional chains, none earned a “good” grade. Four supermarkets earned a passing grade: Whole Foods, Ahold, Target, and Harris Teeter. Right after the “passing” supermarkets, however, was Walmart. And, the lowest ranked four were Price Chopper, H.E. Butt, Meijer, and Trader Joe’s. Find your favorite supermarket on the Scorecard.

But, perhaps of more importance, Greenpeace also published a list of their favorite sustainable seafood retailers. (See the full list here.) On that list: Andronico’s Market in San Francisco, Hanover Co-op Food Stores, Davis Food Co-op, and my old favorite when I lived in the DC area, My Organic Market.

To find Greenpeace’s rating of a supermarket near you, use their Supermarket Search tool.

Image of an albacore tuna from Greenpeace.

Apple Continues Greening Trend with Newest iPod

jplatt — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 10:54:41 -0400

Apple isn't the greenest company on the planet -- but it's constantly making improvements.

The company's latest step is this week's announcement of its "cleanest" iPod yet, the newest version of the iPod nano. The device is manufactured with arsenic-free glass; contains no Brominated Flame Retardants (BFR), mercury or PVC; and is said to be highly recyclable because it is made with aluminum and glass.

"We want to be just really environmentally sensitive with these products. We ship a lot of them," said Apple CEO Steve Jobs. "We're constantly worried about reducing the size of the packaging and the transportation carbon that we spend to move these around the world. But the biggest thing we worry about are the toxics."

Greenpeace has long criticized Apple for not being environmentally friendly enough (see their old "Green My Apple" campaign, a name Apple itself has co-opted to embody its environmental mission). But the environmental group praised Apple's announcement, while also calling on Apple to continue to go greener with their computers and iPhones.

The new fourth-generation iPod nano will be available this month in two models: 8GB for $149, and 16GB for $199. Macworld has a complete review.

Who Makes the Greenest Electronics?

jplatt — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 15:18:33 -0500

The Sony Ericsson T650i mobile phone is one of the greenest cell phones on the market, according to a new report from Greenpeace. The venerable environmental organization studied 37 devices (cell phones, laptops and desktop PCs) from 14 brands, judging them on energy efficiency, recyclability and avoidance of toxic manufacturing substances.

Also ranking high were the Sony Vaio TZ11 notebook and the Sony Ericsson P1i PDA. None of the desktop PCs reviewed received good grades.

While even Greenpeace itself admits that this study is not comprehensive enough to be used as a buying guide for all products, they are using the study to show that while electronics makers have come a long way toward getting greener, they still have a lot further to go. They also want to encourage consumers to think green when buying electronics, and to buy the most environmentally responsible products available.

An earlier report from Greenpeace discussed the rising tide of "e-waste" from electronics, and showed how much of it is dumped in the developing world, where toxic chemicals will impact generations yet to come.

Obama's Energy Corps

akronheim — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:25:08 -0500

During the week of April 21-25, the Ithaca College Environmental Society (ICES) is planning a ton of events to celebrate Earth Day. We are hosting The 11th Hour filmmakers to screen their documentary, Bill Richardson, a director of GreenpeaceUSA, author Benjamin Dangl to discuss his book The Price of Fire: Resource Wars and Social Movements in Bolivia. We were going to have a Green Jobs Fair, but alas, there was no available space that week on our campus! April is so busy!

So, we decided to get together with Career Services to be a part of their Job and Internship Fair on April 1-2. It's a good thing; April is turning into Earth Month because it cannot all be contained in one day. So, we are looking to contact the local organizations and larger non-profit environmental groups to come and be a part of the Fair. Not only strictly environmental organizations, but companies that are working to change their impact on the planet and contribute to the idea of sustainability. Maybe we should also ask Obama if he wants to come to the Job Fair because in December of last year he called for more people to take part in national service. An MSNBC article stated that Obama plans on "reaching out to seniors and college students through part-time and full time service programs, Obama called for a classroom corps and an energy corps; doubling the Peace Corps; and creating incentives to volunteer (through things like tax credits)."

Obama already has so much of the young vote, and I think if he came to our Job Fair and maybe even other school's similar events, he would completely win over the college vote if he really outlined an energy corps like that. If the energy corps he's talking about is the energy corps I think he's talking about, it would revolutionize the country; seriously. If it was a program to volunteer your time (for tax credits or a stipend of some kind) to work for the alternative energy sector, we would be that much closer to facing the wrath of climate change. But, I think we are moving in the right direction with programs and jobs like this. When I do Green Corps next year, I'll be doing my part in this fight as will many other recent college graduates, and I'll get paid to do it.

But what do I tell the rest of my friends that are also college seniors and don't have jobs yet and have to pay off serious college loans? Everyone is dying to get a job after graduation; they need reassurance! I should tell them that Obama has a plan for an energy corps and he's going to come and talk about it at our school (come on, Obama!) Or I could tell them that there is so much potential for Green Jobs even in upper level positions, as mentioned in the Think Green Media Blog, that there is nothing to worry about. Or, I could send them to the Ithaca College Job Fair April 1-2 and many recruiters will be there as alternatives to the unsustainable, corporate, cubical world; many companies even dedicated to sustainability and activist work. Do you work for a Green group or company like that? Let me know and maybe you can come and recruit the countless number of college seniors that need something to do next year.

Generation Quiet?

akronheim — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 12:37:06 -0500

Just this past fall, during theinternational climate negotiations in Bali, the U.S. and others insisted that any reference to the greenhouse gas reduction ranges be stricken from the text of the new Bali Mandate (as mentioned in Greenpeace’s Project Hot Seat blog). Also this fall, even though all the green groups in D.C. lobbied tooth and nail for renewable energy standards and a higher mile per gallon mandate, Congress shot themdown and passed a relatively insignificant energy bill. But, I know we will continue to fight for this legislation because it’s the issue of our not so quiet generation.

Just because the U.S.government has its thumb up its ass on these issues doesn’t mean everyone in the U.S. has to. At Ithaca College, the IC Environmental Society (ICES) has been working on environmental campaigns since 1970. We have decreased the packaging on carry-out food, hired dishwashers in one dining hall instead of using paperdishware, campaigned for a redemption center on campus, instituted a sustainable living community, got a ride board for carpooling, and now we’re campaigning for a carpool lot on campus and could use some assistance.

This past summer, some of my sustainable friends and I came up with a proposal to have a carpool lot to reduce the number of cars for environmental and logistical reasons; there is never any parking! Eight months later and no word from Parking Services! In fact, after hearing nothing, I even asked the director of Parking Services if they needed more information or had questions,but she just wrote back:

From: Lillian Tavelli

To: Anjuli Kronheim

Subject: Re: Proposal

Hi
The Policy Com. does have your proposal. They haven't met this semester yet and they do have a lot lined up to do. So I don't know when you will hear from them.
Lillian

So, ICES is going to give them a nudge on Wednesday, February 13. We are going to have a call-in day and ask Parking Services if they could have a policy committee meeting to discuss the proposal sooner, rather than later. If any of you want to call on Wednesday the number is: (607) 274-3756. Hopefully, their phones are ringing off the hook!

I love campaigning on big or small scales, and even though the small scale wins more often, it still benefits any community to be organized around an issue because they learn how to campaign themselves! I will still campaign on a national scale because in my experience we can win because we have been anything but quiet. We 18-24 year olds are coming out voting in higher numbers in this year's presidential primary than when we first got the vote in 1971. We had the first ever youth summit on global warming, this past fall with around 6,000 students in attendance in D.C. (despite the Bali debacle). And if we already got at least the Democratic presidential candidates to change the cars they drive, anything can happen!