Blogs & Ecology

Like your 3M Post-it notes but are concerned about their impact on the environment?

Well so is 3M and starting in 2007 they started to provided eco-friendly versions of all their basic products called Post-it® Recycled Notes.

Is this green washing or real concern?

I suspect neither and both. Really I think it has to do with their bottom line and the growing chorus of folks that want green alternatives in the office. So the more we support items like a green Post-it the more will be sold and the more the idea will work itself into the fabric of 3M.

It’s fair to say that, over the past few years, companies across all industries have begun to invest in the green revolution. These investments have come in many forms - from solar installations to design of more efficient delivery routes to development of new green products. To be sure, in most cases the initiatives have been undertaken due to promises of eventual cost savings as well as tangential benefits such as positive PR. But they have been investments nevertheless. In other words, resources have been put towards the initiative with the belief that there would be a payout down the road.

Economics is a force of nature. But just as importantly, nature is a force of economics. At least it should be.

Despite this summer’s soft demand for air travel and record-breaking gas prices in the U.S., the aviation industry projects a doubling in revenue over the next ten years. But many wonder just how the industry will mitigate its ever-expanding carbon budget?

The time has come for companies to think differently about their environmental efforts. To be sure, it’s refreshing to see more and more companies stepping up to the plate and making significant changes to their operations and investing in infrastructure in an effort to gain environmental benefits. These are extremely important steps, and by no means do I want to discourage any company from taking them.

It seems this is the season for consumer packaged goods (CPG) studies on sustainability. Complementing the ACNielsen and Natural Marketing Institute study recently reported on 3P, according to a new study released by PricewaterouseCoopers for the Grocery Manufacturers Associtaion (GMA): green is good.