Environmental Leader

Kevin,

This is a great idea, and one I hope many people post on facebook and other social networking sites. Here’s my list:

Top 10 Climate Action to Do Today

PRODUCT MARKETING SHOULD CONSIDER CLIMATE AND PROFIT
1. Make better quality goods that are durable and last longer. Enough of the cheap products that fall apart after a year and need to be replaced over and over again. Follow the cradle-to-cradle model of product design, and make “durable” a sought-after product attribute. Get Hollywood involved. If Brad and Angelina wore the same thing again and again to events, people might think that’s “cool” for a classy ensemble to have lasting power.

2. Change marketing practices to stop offering junk as promotions that people don’t need or want, especially at tradeshows. Reduce giveaways and free promotional items. See http://www.wasterecyclingnews.com/inbox2.html?id=1244128193 and http://www.storyofstuff.org

3. Encourage consumers to buy from companies who take meaningful steps towards addressing climate change. Demand transparency in SEC filings to include climate change disclosure. Don’t invest in companies who fail to share where they stand on climate change.

4. Require that companies follow scientifically based standards and independent third party verification when claiming environmental benefits. Just because a company says their product is “green” or “eco-friendly” or “natural” doesn’t mean that it is.

CREATE JOBS TO TAKE ACTION
5. Turn talk into reality and create real green jobs for all the hardworking people who are out of work and ready to contribute to the sustainable economy. While we’re at it, provide solid training programs throughout the country and especially in hard-hit areas of high unemployment for people to learn new skills such as how to manufacture solar panels and wind turbine parts and how to install energy efficiency and renewable energy systems.

“ALTERNATIVE” TRANSPORTATION SHOULD BECOME MAINSTREAM
6. Invest in public transportation infrastructure and create better bike laws (including mandatory bike helmets and clearly marked bike lanes) so that cyclists are safe. Bikes, buses and trains should not be “alternative transportation” but rather mainstream transportation. For those who drive, drive smart by knowing what your air pressure is on your tires for the best mileage, take efficient routes and carpool.

REWARD ENERGY CONSERVATION
7. Reward customers who engage in energy conservation behaviors. Follow the Portland model to fund energy efficiency retrofits by working with utilities to embed energy efficiency measures right on the energy bill to make it a seamless process to become energy efficient.

KEEP IT IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
8. Every neighborhood should be a walkable neighborhood where everything you need is within a 20 minute walk. See http://www.walkscore.com. Bring back the concept of the local grocery store and offer locally grown produce and healthy and reasonably priced products accessible to everyone. New Seasons is a great model, although can reduce their prices even more so everyone can afford to shop there.

9. Make zero waste a reality by creating an infrastructure that encourages residential and commercial composting and a recycling market that doesn’t just throw the materials back in the landfills or send recyclables overseas. Nearly everything we “throw away” can be considered a valuable raw material that can be used to create compost (i.e. food scraps or other compostable items), recyclable products or even art.

10. While international travel is chic and full of mystique, traveling in our own backyard offers just as much adventure and may result in lower carbon emissions in terms of avoiding long plane flights. Rather than backpacking through Europe, why not appreciate the beauty of our own backyard and explore our national parks and natural surroundings, while they are still around.

Jessica Repa | June 4th, 2009

yes these ten points, as also those by Jessica are worth emulating by all the countries,including the developing countries like India !

Ravi Menon | June 7th, 2009