Clean and Green

By Sandra Johnson

You don’t have to spend a lot of money on chemical cleaning solutions to make your home fresh and clean (and green); three natural cleaning products work equally as well.

Lemon juice can be used in kitchens and bathrooms to dissolve soap scum and hard water deposits. Furthermore, since approximately five percent of a lemon is acid, the juice helps to kill bacteria. Mixed with vinegar and/or baking soda, lemon juice can also be made into a cleaning paste. You can cut a lemon in half and sprinkle baking soda on the inside surface, and use it to scrub dishes, countertops and sinks, and to remove stains. The enzymes in citric acid cut through grease and make a greener alternative to abrasive store bought cleaners. If you mix 1 cup of olive oil with ½ a cup of lemon juice you can make your own furniture polish for hardwood surfaces.

Vinegar is a great natural cleaning product as well as a disinfectant and deodorizer. Mix a solution of one part water to one part vinegar in a new spray bottle to make a solution that will clean most areas of your home. There’s no need to worry about your house smelling like vinegar, as the scent disappears as the solution dries. Please note that the proportions are important as improperly diluted vinegar is acidic and can eat away at porous surfaces. Vinegar should never be used on marble surfaces.  Did you know that vinegar can even be used as a natural fabric softener for people with sensitive skin? Simply add ½ a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle in place of store bought fabric softener.

Baking Soda can be used in place of commercial abrasive cleansers to scrub surfaces. Baking soda is also a great deodorizer. You can put a box in the refrigerator and freezer to absorb odors. I empty a box into my cat’s litter to keep it smelling fresh. Since it is natural, unscented and non-toxic, I know it’s safe for him. If you mix three parts baking soda to one part water you can make a paste to polish silver. Rub the paste onto each item then rinse with warm water and dry with a soft cloth. To remove scents from a carpet, sprinkle with baking soda, and let stand for at least fifteen minutes before vacuuming.

So, there you have it; three simple cleaning products that are readily available, not harmful to the environment, and very affordable as well. Now it’s time to go clean and get green. 

Can Carbon Offsetting Improve your Reputation? Part 2 of 2

By Tejas Ewing, Carbon Markets Coordinator, the New Economics Foundation, London

Last month we explored how Voluntary Carbon Offsetting is being used by some organisations as a way of dealing with their carbon emissions.  We left off with saying that there were significant risks associated with any offsetting strategy, and they primarily involved the decision over what offsets to purchase. The key paradigm for judging quality is known as VALIDS, and is based on the following criteria:

Verifiability: In any offset project it is important that the baseline emissions levels were measured accurately, and that the subsequent emissions reductions were also accurately measured.


Additionality: Additionality is a key issue in carbon offsetting, and refers to whether the emissions reduction would have been generated regardless of your purchase. It is important that the emissions reductions would not have happened anyway, and are additional to business as usual. For example, a wind farm that would have been built anyway, due to government subsidies, does not count as additional. A local scale clean energy project in a small village, where your money makes the difference between success and failure would be additional.

Leakage: Offset projects must be careful not to cause additional emissions outside the project boundaries, caused by the emissions reductions activities of the project and its design. For example, protecting forests in one area can simply increase deforestation in another.


Impermanence: Offset projects should ensure that the emissions reductions are permanent, and that emissions do not immediately increase once the project ends. For example, tree planting projects must ensure the trees stay alive for over 50 years, and do not die due to lack of care and maintenance.


Double-Counting: An emissions reduction is only valid if it is generated once, sold once, and permanently retired. As a voluntary offsetter, it is important that your offset is only sold to you and used by you. You should ask for guarantees and certificates, or a registry of the project to ensure it is not double-sold.

Sustainable Development Benefits: Many consumers want to increase the benefit of their purchase by choosing offsets that specifically provide additional positive outcomes beyond the emissions reductions. These benefits are usually environmental, economic and social, and are often known as sustainable development benefits, because they increase the holistic benefits to the local community and the local environment. For example, a solar power project that also restored local habitats and provided jobs for local villagers would have overall sustainable development benefits.



Conclusion
The above requirements for effective offsets are challenging, and as a result very few offsets actually meet them. Offsetting is often controversial because of the lack of quality and regulation in the market, rather than the concept itself. For example, less than 1% of all the money spent on offsetting actually goes to communities most affected by climate change, and very few projects have any
additional sustainable development benefits. Many projects fail, or are poorly designed, and often profit is the main motive.

It is for those reasons that I am currently managing a project to provide a credible alternative to the poor quality offsets that often flood the market. The New Economics Foundation, in conjunction with partners including IIED and Comic Relief, is pioneering a new approach whereby organisations will be able to take responsibility for the impacts of their emissions by investing in climate change adaptation projects that will help the most vulnerable communities in the world adapt to the realities of a changing climate.

Rather than investing in projects that increase the profitability of factories in China, for example, organisations will be able to help communities in Africa and India become more resilient to the increased drought, flooding and changing agricultural patterns that they are already facing. This provides a solution that goes ‘beyond offsetting’ and closes the circle of emissions responsibility. A strategy of measuring emissions, reducing avoidable emissions, offsetting (in a credible way) unavoidable and irreducible emissions and
contributing to climate change adaptation to deal with the impacts of unavoidable emissions provides a comprehensive and holistic response to the reality of greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on the planet.

__________________________________________________________
Tejas Ewing is a leading expert on carbon offsetting and both the compliance and voluntary carbon markets, having published key analysis and critiques of voluntary carbon offset providers and the voluntary carbon market as a whole. His publications have been read by over 50,000 environmental leaders worldwide. He is also a well-known consultant on environmental issues from a business perspective having worked with many leading multinational companies on a freelance basis and also as part of his father’s company, Ewing Communications. Tejas would be happy to discuss how to make your organisation more environmentally friendly, while also increasing your brand value and reputation. 


He can be reached at tejasewing@yahoo.ca

Can Carbon Offsetting Improve your Reputation? Part 1 of 2

 By Tejas Ewing, Carbon Markets Coordinator, the New Economics Foundation, London


VOLUNTARY CARBON OFFSETTING — the process of purchasing an emissions reduction generated elsewhere, to deal with an organisation’s own internal emissions is perhaps the most controversial topic in today’s active carbon marketplace.  Having been hailed as the only valid market solution to climate change and criticised as being akin to ‘selling indulgences in the catholic church’, or referred to as the ‘morning after pill of the environmental movement’.  Many organisations have begun to offset some of their emissions in the hope that this will help to improve their reputation as a ‘green’ organisation and improve the marketability of certain products.

For example, Land Rover recently sold its new line of off-road vehicles with a carbon offset included, so that all of the emissions for the lifetime of the car were effectively ‘neutralised’ by the investment by Land Rover in renewable energy projects in China. It was claimed that these projects effectively reduced emissions in China in line with the projected emissions caused by use of the vehicle. This was seen as somewhat of a marketing coup for the company because it could then brand itself as the first ‘carbon neutral’ vehicle. The implied message was that a Prius might have lower emissions, but you could instead buy a Land Rover and simply pay for the emissions to be reduced elsewhere, more efficiently. The idea perhaps was to have your cake and eat it too.

However, such offset initiatives can also backfire. The band Coldplay wanted to make one of their live concert tours ‘carbon neutral’ by investing in offset projects worldwide to ‘neutralise’ their emissions from flying and putting on a carbon intensive tour. Unfortunately, they chose to invest in some projects that involved planting mango trees in India. These projects were poorly designed and did not provide adequate support to the villagers in India that were asked to maintain the trees. As a result many of the trees died, the local people were unhappy, and Coldplay looked bad.

What this highlights, from a marketing and branding perspective, is that if your company aims to pursue carbon offsetting, or carbon neutrality, you must do it carefully and think hard about your decisions and how to deal with your carbon emissions in a holistic way.

A well constructed offset project can add value to consumer goods and enhance your reputation, while a poorly designed offset initiative just looks as if you are trying to fool the public.


So what can you do?
Within this complex mix of opinions, however, one thing remains constant. There is an expectation that organisations must have a valid plan of action to deal with their own carbon footprints. A recent review by the Carbon Disclosure Project showed that 75% of the 500 largest companies in the world are now measuring their carbon footprint, and taking action to actively reduce it. Consumers are
beginning to expect this, and it doesn’t pay to be left behind on planning to reduce the emissions of your organisation in order to
improve your brand value and reputation with consumers.

To many, Carbon Offsetting is one valid strand of action for an emissions plan, as it allows institutions to create more robust tactics to deal with their carbon footprints. However, carbon offsetting is only one part of a complex and valid planning system which must include real and internal emissions reductions. Carbon offsetting can never be the only pillar of your environmental strategy!

Any organisation thinking of purchasing carbon offsets must first put significantly more effort into reducing direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, before any offsetting strategy is implemented. It is clear that offsetting without carbon reduction is nothing more than an exercise in guilt reduction, false publicity and futility. Therefore, do not buy offsets until you have a structured and published plan to reduce your organisation’s emissions.

What is also clear, though, is that when it comes to unavoidable emissions, such as flights that must be taken, there must be a mechanism for proactively providing solutions, because for any organisation there will be some unavoidable and irreducible emissions.
Carbon Offsetting has attempted to provide solutions for these unavoidable emissions, but like any new industry there is much confusion and controversy.

Even if one is reducing emissions before undertaking offsetting, there are further pitfalls. There are significant risks associated with any offsetting strategy, and they primarily involve the decision over what offsets to purchase. Offsets purchased from the wrong provider may never be delivered, or the projects might fail, resulting in wasted money and significant reputational risks to the purchaser. The key paradigm for judging quality is known as VALIDS.


Keep an eye open for next month’s MLT where the criteria for VALIDS will be revealed and the article will be concluded.

Living the SLOWLIFE in Paradise

By Sandra Johnson

More and more, hotels and resorts are making an effort to do their part for the environment. The lovely Soneva Gili resort in the Maldives is no exception. In fact, this Six Senses hotel has taken going Green a step further by instilling several environmentally-friendly initiatives. The resort aims “to create innovative and enlightening experiences that rejuvenate our guests’ love of SLOW LIFE.” SLOW LIFE stands for SUSTAINABLE – LOCAL – ORGANIC – WHOLESOME   LEARNING – INSPIRING – FUN – EXPERIENCES.

Sea water is desalinated through a reverse-osmosis mechanism for drinking and bathing purposes, and is heated by solar energy. The hotel uses laundry detergent that is environmentally friendly. Recycling and composting programs are also in place. Soneva Gili has its own organic vegetable garden, from where ninety percent of the lettuce consumed at the resort is grown.  Many other wonderful vegetables are produced in the ever-expanding garden are also enjoyed by guests. Local non-endangered species of fish are caught fresh daily. Therefore, transportation and refrigeration are not required.  You won’t find any rainforest teak, coral, or turtle shells used for building or decorative purposes here. What you will find is a coral garden, where baby corals are harvested and replanted on the local reefs to replace those damaged by the extreme water temperatures in prior years. New and used items, such as linens and clothing, are donated to a local orphanage. The orphans are also taught useful life skills to ensure they have a brighter future. 

Staff members are required to undergo a “Green Module” on an annual basis, and, for guests,  environmental awareness is created through displays, management action and supporting programs. “Knowing what the resort does and what the resort could do to protect the environment and to keep it unspoiled is the first step to minimize environmental damage.”

More information on Soneva Gili’s Environmental and Social responsibility can be found at: http://www.sixsenses.com/soneva-gili/Environment/Environmental-Responsibility.php

A Different Kind of Office Building

By Sandra Johnson, CAS Member


In May last year, Standard Chartered Bank’s new building at Changi Business Park was  awarded the Platinum Green Mark Certification by Singapore’s Building and Construction Authority (BCA). This is the highest environmental award in Singapore, recognising projects that demonstrate a minimum of 30% energy and water savings as well as environmentally sustainable building practices and innovative Green features.

This first-of-its-kind office building integrates energy and water efficient features and is expected to reduce energy consumption by up to 36 percent compared to conventional buildings in Singapore. Another proud fact is that 20 percent of the plants across the building’s 70,000 square feet landscaping will be of the endangered variety, with educational areas focusing on a range of endangered plants and their practical, everyday uses as food and medicine.

Steve Riley, Project Director, Singapore Relocation Project, Standard Chartered Bank offers more insight:

Was the idea of designing a Green building the vision from the beginning, or did it evolve in the later planning stages of the project?
At Standard Chartered, minimising the impact of our business on the environment, especially in the area of energy consumption in our buildings, has always been an integral part of our company’s Sustainability agenda.  As a policy, all new buildings we are involved in must incorporate environmental features as part of the overall design consideration.

Was it difficult to source energy efficient materials in Singapore?  Are the materials readily available here or were they imported from abroad?
Most construction materials are imported into Singapore, and so they are energy efficient.  However, this results in a slight increase in material costs and limited choices. We do however notice that, in recent years, the number of products available here and endorsed by the Building & Construction Authority have increased dramatically, both reducing the cost and increasing the Green choice.  In addition, recycling capabilities are constantly being improved.

There were extra costs incurred to incorporate the energy efficient features.  Was this difficult for management to approve?
Standard Chartered is committed to protecting the environment by reducing our operational environmental impact. This commitment also applies to our sustainable design strategy of buildings, where we aim to achieve efficiencies in resource consumption while minimising environmental impact. The Bank believes that having sensible Green designs in buildings usually leads to cost savings in the long run. We plan to incorporate sustainable building designs in our real estate to make Standard Chartered a great place to work, as well as creating a balance in economic objectives and environmental viability. Yes, there were additional costs, but these were offset by the reduction in energy and paper consumption, reduced waste and more efficient use of space.  All in all, this means reduced long-term expenses for the bank for a minor initial capital spend.

What is your favourite feature of the building?
It will be the roof-top garden on Level 6. This a place which not only provides a Green feature for the building, but also a recreational space for staff to relax and unwind after a hard day’s work; thus enhancing work-life balance.

What a fresh idea! 

Every Little Bit Helps

Sometimes the idea of saving the planet, being “green” and always doing the right thing for the environment canseem overwhelming. The good news is that it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing equation and every little bit helps; even the small changes you make in your home and office can make a big difference. Here are some helpful tips for living a greener life:

Recycle

Paper, plastic and metal products can be recycled. Look for the internationally-recognized symbol used to designate recyclable materials. Most housing estates in Singapore now have a recycling program, and there are recycling bins dotted all over Singapore. If you’re not sure about how to start or where the bins are located, please check with your local council or environmental agency.

 Turn Off Appliances

Turn off and power-down televisions, stereos, toasters, microwaves, washers, dryers and computers when they are not in use. It’s best to switch off at the power point because most of our electronic appliances are still consuming power even after being turned off.  Don’t worry, you won’t need to reset the internal clocks as most modern appliances now have enough power in store to maintain their internal time clocks for well over a week.  You’ll be surprised how quickly you can develop the habit of switching off at the source. Also, don’t forget to turn off chargers when not in use.

Turn Off the Tap

Do not let the tap run while brushing your teeth. This was a tough one for me to get used to at first, but now I don’t think twice about it and always leave the water off while brushing my pearly whites.

Switch to Energy Saving Light Bulbs

Energy saving light bulbs are readily available in stores all across Singapore. There’s really no excuse to not make the switch.

Hang to Dry

Traditional clothes dryers are energy intensive. When possible, dry your clothes on a clothes line outside in the fresh air, or indoors on a drying rack if you are an apartment dweller. I hang dresses and shirts from the shower rod in my bathroom to dry. If you absolutely must use a dryer then please make sure it is an energy efficient model.

Turn it Down

If you are like me, you probably find most shopping malls, office buildings and cinemas in Singapore unacceptably and unnecessarily cold. If you need to wear a sweater indoors, something’s not right. Talk to the management about setting the thermostat to a comfortable 25 degrees.  At home, try to use the air-conditioner less frequently and never leave it on when you go out. It took some time at first but now my husband and I hardly use our air conditioners, preferring instead to use a ceiling fan.

Going green is a lot easier than you might think, and don’t forget every little bit helps.

New Economics Foundation (nef)

By Sandra Johnson, CAS Member

Tejas and his father Iain are shown here near a glacier
In the Arctic, which has receded greatly due to climate change.

I must confess that when I was first approached to write an article about a company called the “New Economics Foundation” (nef) I had not heard of it before and I didn’t know what it was about. However, with a few easy clicks of my mouse, I was in nef’s website (www.neweconomics.org) and discovered that “nef is an independent think-and-do tank that inspires and demonstrates real economic well-being.” The company’s aim is “to improve quality of life by promoting innovative solutions that challenge mainstream thinking on economic, environment and social issues.” I like it; an organization that aims to put people and the planet first.

These days it seems that many companies are just concerned about making money, and personal and environment issues take a back seat. Not only does nef put these issues in the forefront, it also actively integrates environmental sustainability and social justice into its work.

CAS member and CEO of Ewing Communications in Singapore, Iain Ewing, has a son named Tejas who grew up in Singapore and now works for nef in London, England. I contacted Tejas to find out more about the company and his role with nef.
   
SJ: Your Dad told me how proud he is of you and your new job at nef. He thinks it’s great that you are working for a company that’s trying to make a difference. What did you study at university and how did it prepare you for your role at nef?

I studied ‘Human Geography’ at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. Human Geography is a very interesting subject, which aims to cover the myriad of ways in which humanity interacts with their environment. It covers everything from economic models of resource use, to the social and psychological interpretation of ‘nature’. However, I specialized in Sustainable Development, which is really about how to deal with the considerations of economic growth while giving equal emphasis to social and environmental well-being. In that sense it prepared me well for my role at nef.

SJ: When did you join the nef think-tank and what is your role there?

 I am currently Carbon Markets Coordinator at nef, which means that I deal with improving market mechanisms that aim to respond to the global climate change challenge. For example, carbon trading has been used around the world to try and bring down global emissions, but it has been rather ineffective. I try to make suggestions on how such schemes could be improved. I am currently working on an innovative idea related to private sector financing for climate change adaptation. Climate adaptation involves helping poor communities to deal with the changes in the climate that they are already facing, such as increased risks of drought, flooding or desertification.

SJ: Is this the type of job you always wanted to do?
\Yes, it really is my dream job. I have always been interested in the challenge of uniting economic, social and environmental solutions into a holistic response to the challenges our planet faces. Certainly, when India wants to bring 400 million citizens out of poverty, we can see that economic growth is about much more than just bankers and their bonuses. But such socially
equitable growth must not come at the expense of ourenvironment, otherwise our money won’t be worth very much ina destroyed world.

SJ: Please tell me about nef’s “Happy Planet Index”

This is one of the most important reports that nef hasproduced recently. It challenges the hierarchy that GDP has as a measurement of a country’s global success. We at nef ask: why should money be the only measure of how successful a nation is. This ground breaking index tries to measure well-being as an alternative indicator of success, and found that the richest countries in the world are certainly not the happiest. For example, the three happiest countries in the world, according to the extensive surveys done by nef and its partners are: Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Cuba. More information can be found at www.happyplanetindex.org

SJ: What do you think the world will be like in twenty years?

Well we will certainly be facing a warmer planet, with significantly more extreme weather events, and more variable weather patterns. In twenty years, we will see the reality of climate change. While most discussion of climate change now revolves around models and predictions, in twenty years, we can discuss climate change based on what we will be seeing around us rather than mere predictions.

I also hope that this challenge will lead us towards a world were wealth is spread more equitably, where perhaps we see the poorest people becoming richer, and the richest people being forced to make more sacrifices for the common good. If the current recession has taught us anything, I would hope that it has shown clearly that the rampant pursuit of money for its own sake always brings catastrophe in the long run, and that we need a new way of looking at how we live our lives, considering such issues as whether we are happy, fulfilled and contributing to a better world.

nef was founded in 1986 by the leaders of The OtherEconomic Summits (TOES) which forced issues such asinternational debt onto the agendas of the G7 and G8 summits. Please see http://www.neweconomics.org   for more information about this dynamic organization.