Newsletter // GreenBuzz Oct. 19, 2009 :: Greener Supply Chains, Inside Good Housekeeping's Green Seal, and More...

A report released last week provides one of the clearest perspectives yet of how big companies with complex supply chains reduce their chemical impacts. The report, from the Green Chemistry in Commerce Council, shows how Nike, SC Johnson, and Hewlett Packard have advanced from ensuring that specific hazardous chemicals are not in their products to identifying chemicals that are found in their products and evaluating their safety. We've covered all three companies' initiatives over the years, so we weren't surprised.

Their accomplishments in chemical management weren't easy. Despite the demands of regulators, consumers, activists, even shareholders, most companies are hard-pressed to even understand the full chemical footprint of their supply chain, let alone do anything about it. Suppliers may buy chemicals from others who can't or won't provide the information, or may have the data but won't share it because they're afraid of disclosing trade secrets or opening themselves up to liability. Some suppliers won't act without clear incentives, existing laws or a clear understanding of what the information will be used for.

But the three companies profiled have found a pathway through this maze, and their efforts have yielded positive results, in terms of regulatory, customer, and public recognition, not to mention reducing risks and liabilities in their operations. The question isn't so much how they've done these things, but why they stand alone in the corporate world -- why this hasn't become a standard best practice. What will it take for such chemical management leadership to become widespread? Any ideas?

Green Grid Webcast: Our upcoming October 29 webcast on Strategic Management of Data Center Efficiency taps into another hot topic. Data center managers around the world are running into limits related to power, cooling, and space -- and the rise in demand for the important work of data centers has created a noticeable impact on the world’s power grids. In our free webcast, two members of The Green Grid, an industry consortium, will discuss best practices used by data centers around the world to manage their energy use, including the results of a new Green Grid assessment on an EPA data center in Virginia. Please share this link with members of your IT department.

BSR Conference: Team GreenBiz will be out in force at this week's BSR conference. I'll be there, along with president and publisher Pete May, VP of sales Alan Robinson, VP of GreenBiz Intelligence John Davies, and Katherine Eastman, our marketing and ad guru. Plus Matthew Wheeland and his editorial team. We'll look forward to bumping into you in the crowded hallways. Please introduce yourself.

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