(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Tulsa, OK – March 19, 2012 – Parisleaf Printing and Design recently completed the CurrentState™ Sustainability Audit and received Platinum Certification – the highest certification level available.
The Client’s Challenge
Parisleaf is a Printing and Design company located in Gainesville, Florida. Parisleaf provides a variety of services which include printing, branding packages, web and logo design.
Parisleaf’s largest challenge is that traditional print related goods and services can have a significant negative impact on the environment. Negative impacts occur at all stages of the paper life cycle - the harvesting of trees, the processing of wood fiber into pulp and the disposal of paper products at the end of their useful life.
However, Parisleaf has overcome these challenges. They offer carbon negative printing and web solutions to its clients. Parisleaf is able to achieve this because of their innovative green practices and the steps they take to mitigate their effect on the environment. Continue reading →
Approximately five billion pounds of carpet are replaced each year in the U.S. Much of the old carpet, along with plastic soda bottles and textiles can be woven into new carpet fibers.
By following the tips below, you can make more eco-friendly choices when buying and disposing of carpets and rugs.
✔ Choose natural fiber carpets and rugs - The vast majority of all carpet and rugs are made of petroleum-based synthetic fibers. These fibers are not biodegradable and come from a nonrenewable source. By choosing natural fiber carpets and rugs, you are not only reducing the amount of petrochemical based products you will have in your home, but you will also be able to avoid the trip to the landfill at your carpets end-of-life. Natural fiber carpets can be shredded and used as mulch because it is biodegradable. Continue reading →
The production of computers is energy and material intensive, it creates significant amounts of waste, and uses many toxic materials. Therefore it is critical to purchase, use and dispose of computers in the most sustainable manner possible.
Below are some tips to help you green your computer usage.
✔ Turn on your energy management features - All computers, regardless of the operating system, come with energy management features. Be sure these setting put your computer in ‘hibernate’ or ‘deep sleep’ mode after a certain period of inactivity.
✔ Turn off your screen saver - While helping save your screen, screen savers do not save electricity. Depending on the complexity of the screen saver, the screen saver may be using as much processing power as when you are using your computer to run programs. Opt to have your computer go into ‘hibernation’ or ‘deep sleep’ after a period of inactivity as opposed to using screen savers to protect your screen. Continue reading →
“CurrentState is a necessity for every company that is serious about going green”Ramon Ginah, CFO – Francesca Furzi
“I would highly recommend CurrentState for any company exploring sustainability”Tim Gilbert, Plant Manager – FasCast Inc
(Press Release) Tulsa, OK – January 13, 2012 – Caelus has released the CurrentState™ sustainability audit for business.
The world of sustainability can be a confusing place. It is easy to get lost in the sea of acronym-rich reporting initiatives, certifications, eco-labels and regulations. However, the most important thing for businesses is missing – a comprehensive tool that tells tells companies exactly what they need to do. This is why we developed CurrentState™.
The CurrentState™ Sustainability Audit is a ‘best practices gap analysis’ and a ‘business practices maturity analysis’ combined into one tool – nothing more, nothing less. Simple elegant, and in our opinion a game-changer.
Does this sound simple? That’s because it is. Why hasn’t this been done before? Because nobody has created a framework that clearly and comprehensively defined sustainability – until now.
Sustainability Defined
CurrentState™ is based on our Three Tiers of Sustainability™ framework. Our framework clearly defines sustainability and in our opinion has been the ‘missing link’ in sustainability consulting. Our framework organizes sustainability into three primary activity groups: Green IT, Facilities and Business. These three groups are further divided into 25 (more specific) sub-groups. If an activity is related to sustainability in business, it will have a place in the framework.
By having a comprehensive framework, we are able to answer another very important question all businesses have – Are we doing everything that we can in order to go green?
Why CurrentState™?
In addition to being a revolutionary approach, CurrentState™ offers business other distinct advantages.
CurrentState™ is delivered directly to your desktop. No need for time-consuming, money-wasting meetings. Time is money, especially when your paying by the hour. CurrentState™ is not charged by the hour and delivers the same questions a consultant would, but at your convenience and with no chance of missing anything
This method of collecting information is efficient. What we do with the information once we receive it is also efficient. We have automated many of the non-analytical steps of the consulting process, so as soon as qualified sustainability consultant begins on your case, they will be able to begin analysis immediately. This allows us to deliver a Findings Report in a matter of days, not weeks or months.
Another advantage is that CurrentState is focussed. CurrentState™ does not count carbon or advise you on the ROI of specific projects. It is focused on determining exactly the activities your organization needs to conduct or consider. The result – your team will not be wasting valuable time hunting for data for activities that may not be needed.
Finally, your Findings Report will spell out in specific terms exactly what tasks need to be done (Quick Wins) and what things you need to consider (Recommendations) in order to improve your sustainability performance. Ratings and analysis for each sub-category is also generated. For most organizations, these tasks can be used as the basis of a sustainability implementation plan. Add some resourcing, budget and do a little ROI analysis and you will have a plan that leaves no leaf unturned and would make any CSO proud.
The Findings Report
The Findings Report is ‘boardroom ready’ and is delivered in both PowerPoint and pdf formats. Each report will contain over 100 specific quick wins (shorter-term, easily achievable tasks) and recommendations (longer-term activities). “In essence, if you add resource requirements and budget to the report, you will have a nearly complete Sustainability Program. This is exactly what our clients are doing and their reaction has been overwhelmingly positive.”
The Findings Report can be used as:
a blueprint to develop a sustainability program;
a method to demonstrate to management, a board or the public an organization’s sustainability achievements;
a way to quickly identify gaps in your current sustainability efforts;
a way to document and track sustainability performance from period to period;
and a way to determine current compliance with major international standards and certifications.
Early SQ adopters include S&P 500, Russell 3,000, and private companies in Asia, North America, and Europe
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Dec. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ – UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), announced today the launch of its Sustainability Quotient (SQ) Program, a comprehensive system of assessing, rating, and certifying the sustainability initiatives of corporations at an enterprise level. The SQ Program is based on a series of auditable standards, including UL 880: Sustainability for Manufacturing Organizations, with the first edition being released today, and UL 881: Sustainability for Service Sector Organizations, which is in development.
“Similar to the promise of electricity in the late 1800s that helped launch UL’s science-based approach to standards development and testing, sustainability is on the cusp of widespread public adoption and the spur for innovation. Nonetheless, there remains confusion over what ‘sustainability’ means,” says Stephen Wenc, president of UL Environment. “We established the SQ Program to foster adoption of a standardized language and rating platform for corporate sustainability that may also be used in risk mitigation, streamlining operations, and early action in anticipation of future regulation.” Continue reading →
Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are gaining significant momentum as an alternative to incandescent and fluorescent lighting in commercial buildings, particularly as the cost of LED lighting technology continues its rapid decline. While the market share of LED solid-state lighting (SSL) is currently quite low, a new report from Pike Research forecasts that LED share will reach 52% of the commercial lighting market by 2021. The cleantech market intelligence firm anticipates that LED lighting costs for various SSL products will be reduced by 80% to 90% in many cases during the next decade.
“LEDs represent perhaps the most significant breakthrough of the last 130 years in lighting technology,” says research analyst Eric Bloom. “The production of white LEDs, which began in the late 1990s, is starting to transform the lighting industry, and the transition to this new technology is likely to occur very quickly. Rapidly-evolving technologies, such as semiconductors and software, are finding their way into the lighting market, catapulting this traditional, historically slow-moving industry into a new era of high technology.” Continue reading →
By Jhoanna Frances S. Valdez (EcoSeed) - The Environment California Research Policy Center announced that rooftop solar photovoltaic capacity in California has already reached more than 1 gigawatt – 1.005 GW or 100,000 solar systems installed since 2007 to be exact – the outcome mainly due to falling solar prices.
In a recent report, the government research policy group added that the state was on the right track to achieving the California Million Solar Roofs Initiative of 3 GW of installed solar capacity by 2016.
Aside from clean electricity, the solar industry has managed to spur job generation for the state. More than 3,500 solar firms in California are employing more than 25,000 people, and are providing 100,237 jobs as of August 2011, according to non-profit organization The Solar Foundation’s national solar jobs census report. Continue reading →
NORTHBROOK, Ill., Nov. 9, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Expansion of Standard Provides a More Comprehensive Environmental Solution for Manufacturers and Consumers
UL Environment, a business unit of UL (Underwriters Laboratories), announced today the release of the newly-revised Standard for Sustainability for Printing Cartridges, which–for the first time–can be applied to both original toner cartridges and refurbished cartridges and be certified by UL Environment in the U.S.
“By republishing the EcoLogo® standard for printing cartridges as a UL Environment Standard for Sustainability in the United States, manufacturers will have the opportunity to be recognized by a trusted and global leader in sustainability science and certification,” says Steve Wenc, president of UL Environment. “Expanding the standard from only remanufactured cartridges to include original toner cartridges is a major step forward in helping to acknowledge advancements made by manufacturers of environmentally preferable products.” Continue reading →
(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Tulsa, OK – March 19, 2012 – Parisleaf Printing and Design recently completed the CurrentState™ Sustainability Audit and received Platinum Certification – the highest certification level available.
