Grass is Not So Green: Marijuana Has a Huge Carbon Footprint

Grass is Not So Green: Marijuana Has a Huge Carbon Footprint

indoor marijuana weed cannibisThe yearly greenhouse-gas pollution of the $40 billion per year marijuana industry is responsible for about 3% of all electricity use or 8% of household use. Indoor growers use high-intensity lights that are 500 times more powerful that a standard reading lamp. They also use several other high energy industrial practices. The closest comparison for these massive, industrial-style grow facilities are data centers, which consume about two percent of the nation’s electric power.

Embodied Energy, a Measure of Sustainability

Embodied Energy, a Measure of Sustainability

What is the meaning and importance of embodied energy as a measure of sustainability and why we need to develop widely accepted standards for embodied energy? This article explores this somewhat arcane concept that seeks to measure how much energy is “embodied” in a product or service; in other words how much energy is used throughout the entire life cycle of the thing being measured including the energy required by decommissioning, disassembly and deconstruction.

Linking the U.N. Climate Conference (COP16), Supply Chain Sustainability & Logistics

Linking the U.N. Climate Conference (COP16), Supply Chain Sustainability & Logistics

cop 16 supply chainCountries need to take ownership of their entire life-cycle emissions and when such agreements are based on data that attributes emissions fairly. But companies are not waiting around for any unlikely agreement that may come out of COP 16. Many are starting to see a sustainable supply chain as a way to not only cut costs, but also create new products that are less impacting to the environment and expand in developing-world markets that are likely to be hit hard by global warming.

Why Social Media Is Vital to Corporate Social Responsibility

Why Social Media Is Vital to Corporate Social Responsibility

Social media has begun to play a key role in how companies shape their corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies and present themselves as good corporate citizens. The standard for CSR is being redefined and is evolving as a driver of innovation. The bottom line is now three-fold, and is centered around people, planet, and profit. As business leaders strive to build more sustainable and socially responsible entities, formal social media strategies are becoming paramount.

The Four Best Practice Strategies Needed for Successful Carbon Management

The Four Best Practice Strategies Needed for Successful Carbon Management

A new report released by independent research firm, Verdantix, explains why firms are floundering with carbon management and putting the future of the business at risk due to flawed governance and strained business processes. It warns that unless CEOs take ownership of carbon management as a business transformation challenge their firms will fail to achieve absolute reductions in CO2 emissions.

Greening Your Small Business

Greening Your Small Business

Jennifer Kaplan takes a look at how small businesses can have a big impact on the economy and why it is to their advantage to go green.

Incentives to Use Less Energy

With global eco awareness expanding on climate issues, it is not a surprise to many that the fastest growth in CO2 levels has occurred in the last 10 years. Studies indicate that electricity generation and consumption is the largest contributor and is increasing faster than any other energy sector. However, efforts to manage electricity show the slowest decline in emissions progress.

What Makes Europe Greener than the U.S.?

The average American produces three times the amount of CO2 emissions as a person in France. A U.S. journalist now living in Europe explains how she learned to love her clothesline and sweating in summer.

A Strong Climate Treaty Could Mean Significantly More Jobs Than If We Continue Using Coal

The world stands to gain 6.9 million jobs by 2030 in the clean energy sector if a strong deal is reached in Copenhagen, according to a report released recently by Greenpeace International and the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). A switch from coal to renewable electricity generation will not just avoid 10 billion tons of CO2 emissions, but will create 2.7 million more jobs by 2030 than if we continue business as usual. Conversely, the global coal industry – which currently supports about 4.7 million employees worldwide – is likely to contract by more than 1.4 million jobs by 2030, due to rationalization measures in existing coal mines.