In “At the Intersection of Standards and Sustainability,” published in the March/April 2013 issue of Standardization News, editor in chief Maryann Gorman wrote, “… modern development — manufacturing, infrastructure projects, building construction and so on — takes place in a vast and interconnected world of systems. Global supply chains, regional regulatory schemes and the emergence of integrated systems like intelligent highways and buildings mean that most materials are produced within overlapping economic, social, regulatory, environmental and material requirements. And it is at this intersection that standards and sustainability meet.”
For the packaging community, standardization for measurement of sustainability performance started its journey in 2009 with the release of GreenBlue’s Sustainable Packaging Coalition®-produced “Sustainable Packaging Indicators and Metrics Framework©.” The Framework synthesized the vast body of measurement literature into a core set of indicators relevant to the packaging supply chain. Then in 2011, the Consumer Goods Forum picked up this work and condensed the effort into the Global Protocol for Packaging Sustainability (GPPS 2.0), which provides a common language for packaging sustainability related measurements. Presently, the set of environmental attributes and life cycle indicators within GPPS are poised to be released into a global GS1 standard that will provide a platform for submitting and the sharing environmental measurements between producers and retailers in a consistent and unified manner.
The GS1 GDS-GPP Packaging Sustainability Standard is in review and comments phase and is scheduled for release this summer. With the rollout of this additional layer into GS1 standard platform, a producer can release sustainability-related data via the GS1 global trade item number (GTIN) barcode system, thus allowing buyers to gain access to those data without the producer having to fulfill multiple requests from buyers from different retailers for the same information. Such central data sharing will allow ease of communication along the supply chain and with luck, facilitate overall transparency, benchmarking, and tracking progress for product categories.
One clarification: the GS1 standard only standardizes the reporting and sharing of sustainability indicators related to a package based on its assigned barcode. It does not standardize the methods by which the measurements are calculated. That is a different conversation. Stay tuned for the standard’s release date this summer.
Month: June 2013
On May 1, GreenBlue staff committed to participating in the David Suzuki Foundation’s 30×30 Nature Challenge to spend at least 30 minutes outside for 30 days in May. We can’t believe how the month flew by, but the unanimous reaction was that our outside time was beneficial and is likely the start of many new good habits. Here are a few of our group’s reactions to all that outside time:
Office Manager Keeby Ipsan:
When I first heard of the 30 x 30 challenge, I thought it was odd that people had to be challenged to get outside for 30 minutes every day for 30 days. How can people NOT be outside for at least 30 minutes every day? So, I thought this should be an easy challenge. The being outside part was easy. However, I found it a problem to blog (even small amounts) or post photos on a daily basis. I don’t normally carry my phone or camera while I’m working in the garden or walking the dogs. Mostly because I’m afraid they would be damaged in the process. But I did manage to get in enough photos to give others a glimpse into my daily outings. I have to give credit, in part, to my dogs for insisting on a daily routine walk. Such conscientious animals. The challenge did encourage the office staff to make the most of it with trips for gelato, ice cream, or frozen yogurt. Yeah! And we enjoyed taking chairs out under the trees for lunches and breaks. I think these excursions will continue, at least until it gets cold. The bigger challenge would be getting outside every day in January or February. Anyone up for snowball fights?
Project Associate Danielle Peacock:
Participating in 30×30 made me acutely aware and appreciative of the time I spend outside. While I try to make walks a part of my daily routine, the challenge pushed me to make time for myself outside every day. It was a chance to stretch my legs, garden, reflect, and brainstorm new ideas. 30×30 also gave me a chance to reflect on how my outside time positively impacts my life. Rainy days were the hardest, but gave me opportunities to take advantage of the rocking chairs on my porch. I’ve created a routine that I will continue.
Office Hound Dog Bernie the Beagle (selected daily musings, as transcribed by Senior Manager Minal Mistry):
May 4 – Mud salamander, Cold and slick, Splash in the creek.
May 14 – Western storm cloud, Grey and black, Sunbeam splits the dark.
May 22 – Two dove babies, One thrasher too, Each awaits mother’s beak.
May 26 – Azure blue sky, In cool of night, Firefly in May!
Project Associate Eric DesRoberts:
We donated our car (for safety reasons) about 6 months before the 30×30 challenge, at which point a 25 minute commute to work turned into a 2.5 hr public transit adventure through the metro DC area for my better half. We had always planned to get another vehicle, and last month that time came.
We put in a lot of time researching vehicles, dealerships, customer reviews, etc. but when it came time to check them out in person, the question became how are we going to get there? Think about all of the car dealerships in your area – could you walk to them? Would you feel safe or want to walk to them? Does it sound outrageous for someone to walk to a car dealership (as we did) looking to buy a car? It shouldn’t – you buy a car because you don’t have one (or something along those lines). At the same time, it does sound a little outrageous when you consider the patchwork of occasional crosswalks, walking signs, and sidewalks that suddenly end and leave you stranded or forced to cross 4, 6, or 8 lane intersections with traffic islands that have been replaced with turn only lanes.
The walkability of many of the communities I have recently lived in is not for the faint of heart. This is not the fault of town planners or city officials. I think that it largely reflects our preferences. We prefer an extra vehicle lane over a wider sidewalk, we prefer a parking lot grid to an overgrown field. Nature has become the stuff on the perimeter of these things – sometimes it is harder to find the nature than it is to find the time to enjoy it.
Read more about our experience with the 30×30 Nature Challenge.
Categories
Game-changing Sustainability
What’s in a game? Depending on which game you are playing you might say: chance, imagination, strategy, fun, intrigue, concentration, challenge, excitement, competition, reward, sport, and team building. Interestingly, most of these words might also be used to describe the work environment in many of the companies ranked highest in annual “best places” to work polls. So, what if you could gamify your workplace for a purpose? What if you could capture all of those stimulating attributes of game-playing in an employee engagement process to embed sustainability into your company’s core values; into its very DNA? What if you could leverage the power of game-playing to establish a sustainability knowledge baseline and framework that would enable and motivate all your employees to contribute, ideate, and innovate more sustainable processes, products, or business systems?
I’d argue that you would likely see a creative disruption born of cause-based inspiration and the kind of business transformation that would take companies well beyond doing less bad (where sustainability has gotten most companies today) to becoming more resilient and restorative contributors to human and planetary health. Imagine a world where business and nature thrive in harmony. The only way we are going to reach that required state is when we all recognize that sustainability is everyone’s responsibility. That’s what gamification for sustainability can do.
Okay, so I can hear all you naysayers – and I was most definitely one myself not so long ago – questioning the premise of gamification for any purpose in the workplace, let alone applying it to something as fundamentally important as sustainable development. But, let’s look at some recent statistics on employee engagement and gamification. A 2012 Global Workforce Study conducted by Towers Watson found that companies with high levels of employee engagement reported same-year operating margins that were nearly three times higher than companies with low levels of engagement. Jane McGonigal, author of Reality is Broken: Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World, argues that turning a challenge into an interactive, even competitive, adventure provides employees with the purpose and motivation they need to get involved.
Still not convinced? Then see what others are saying about gamification and employee engagement, and think about the possibilities. Sustainability leadership companies will recognize the power. Sustainability laggards will eventually play, too – but they’ll be playing catch up. Which do you want your company to be?
By the way, GreenBlue Advisory Services now offers The Sustainability Game as a powerful employee engagement tool. Originally developed as a “board” game to engage an internal corporate leadership team, we have evolved the game into an on-line, jeopardy-like competitive challenge that is a fun way to get all employees in an organization to better understand what sustainability is and why it is important to the organization and its bottom line. E-mail me to learn more.
The Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) is happy to announce an offer of financial sponsorships for use of the How2Recycle “Store Drop-off” label! For eligible companies, the How2Recycle License Fee will be offset by these sponsorships. Sponsorships will target high-volume categories of polyethylene-based (HDPE and LDPE) flexible film which include but are not limited to newspaper bags, bread bags, dry cleaning bags and product wraps.
I visit a nearby grocery store about once a week, but up until a few weeks ago I had no idea that I was able to drop off and recycle certain plastic bags there. Throughout the United States there are about 15,000 participating locations such as retail and grocery stores where people can recycle a variety of plastic films. The “Store Drop-off” How2Recycle Label is meant to direct the appropriate recyclable plastic films to these drop-off locations and to keep them out of curbside recycling bins. To find the drop-off site nearest you, visit the Check Locally page of the How2Recycle website.
GreenBlue and the SPC are thrilled to have the support of the Flexible Film Recycling Group (FFRG) of the American Chemistry Council who have generously made this sponsorship possible. The mission of the FFRG is to increase the collection and recycling of flexible plastic films and to educate consumers about the importance of recycling. The FFRG believes the “Store Drop-off” label will convey the ease of recycling this important material at local stores across the country.
Companies that have not yet been licensed under How2Recycle and otherwise meet the eligibility requirements of the program are qualified for a sponsorship. The “Store Drop-off” Label currently appears on the products of several participating How2Recycle companies including Kellogg, Sealed Air, and Seventh Generation.
Interested companies can find more information by visiting http://www.how2recycle.info/. To apply for a sponsorship, send an email to Anne Bedarf, with the subject line “How2Recycle”. Please include the name of your company, reason for interest, and the type(s) of packaging to which the company would apply the label.
Funding is limited for the How2Recycle sponsorships, so claim one for your company before the opportunity runs out!
Categories
Top Five Fun Facts: June
Eric DesRoberts continues his monthly series of facts and tidbits he’s uncovered during his research to better understand products and packaging. You can also check out his past Fun Facts.
1. The Environmental Working Group analyzed pesticide tests on 48 popular conventional produce items and found that apples, strawberries, and grapes had the highest pesticide levels and pineapples, onions, and sweet corn had the lowest. The group goes on to say that the health benefits of eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables outweigh the risk of exposure.
2. According to a USGS report, the historical average rate of groundwater depletion in the U.S. was about 9 cubic kilometers per year from 1900-2008. From 2000-2008 the rate of depletion averaged almost 25 cubic kilometers. The full report goes on to state that oceans represent the ultimate sink for essentially all depleted groundwater – US groundwater depletion alone accounts for up to 2.3% of the sea level rise from 2000-2008.
3. Over 40,000 projects have been successfully funded through Kickstarter, raising roughly $536 million. In 2012 alone, 2.2 million people (from 177 countries) contributed over $300 million to fund 18,109 projects.
4. On average, a US family consumes about 5kg of food per day that has cumulatively traveled over 4,000 miles throughout its lifecycle. This ranges from about 700 miles for some beverages to about 13,000 miles for some meats. However, the majority of food impacts still occur in the production stages. Accordingly, a dietary shift away from red meat towards a more fruit and vegetable based diet is one of the most effective ways of reducing a household’s food related climate footprint.
5. June 5 marked the 41st annual United Nations World Environment Day. This year’s theme was Think.Eat.Save – an anti-food waste and food loss campaign to combat the 1.3 billion tonnes of food lost or wasted annually.
A wide gap remains between the general public and the packaging industry when it comes to understanding recyclability terms, especially with plastics and the related Resin Identification Codes. A survey by plastics consultant Moore Recycling Associates is attempting to gauge the public’s current understanding of the terminology that their local community may use, and we encourage everyone to participate.
Moore Recycling Associates and Re-TRAC Connect tell us, “we are working on a project to standardize plastic recycling terminology: both for public education, and for commodity tracking. With your help, our goal is to create a clear, consistent set of terms throughout the recycling chain. The link below will take you to a short online presentation, at the end of which you will have the opportunity to provide your feedback on the proposed terminology. The deadline for feedback is June 11, 2013.”
http://my.brainshark.com/Plastic-Recycling-Terminology-271401132
