As the pandemic approached its peak, so did sales of the aromatic material.
By Sydney Gore
Dec. 15, 2020
Hyungi Park, a Los Angeles-based artist, began learning how to make incense six years ago. She admits that incense isn’t necessarily the most eco-friendly option, compared with candles or essential oils, but thinks that it’s “…
The Department of Labor made final on Friday a rule making it harder for socially-minded investments to be included in select retirement plans, a move that some commenters welcomed, preferring return-driven decisions. Others objected, calling the Trump-led shift a misread of investing trends and preferences.
“Financial Factors in Selecting…
By Soyoung Ho, Thomson Reuters, September 25, 2020
Despite strong opposition from investor groups, a divided SEC on September 23, 2020, decided to finalize a rule that makes it more difficult for public company shareholders to bring proposals for vote during annual meetings.
Rule 14a-8 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as…
by Emma Loewe, mindybodygreen, August 19, 2020
Most of us are up to speed on the dangers of carbon dioxide, but we may not be as well-versed on another greenhouse gas that has the potential to trap hundreds of times more heat in the environment: hydrofluorocarbons. Hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, often fuel cooling systems like…
By London Gibson, The Indianapolis Star, June 28, 2020
In the midst of World War II, Americans came together to grow fruits and vegetables in their backyards, forming a network of victory gardens that at one point provided as much as 40% of the country’s vegetables. Today, thousands of Americans are turning to victory gardens again, but…
Stopping climate change is hard enough, but racism only makes it harder.
By Ayana Elizabeth Johnson, June 3, 2020
Here is an incomplete list of things I left unfinished last week because America’s boiling racism and militarization are deadly for black people: a policy memo to members of Congress on accelerating offshore wind energy development…
by Louise Boyle, June 2, 2020
Environmental activists are voicing support for protesters who have taken to the streets in outrage over the police killing of George Floyd, while acknowledging the green movement's own need to tackle ongoing racial inequality.
A number of leading green groups have issued statements recognising that systemic…
The popular wartime solution for supplementing food rations was embraced by Eleanor Roosevelt, and now environmental experts say it's time to bring victory gardens back.
By Dan Nosowitz, May 20, 2020
There's no roadmap for fighting climate change, but bringing back a few old traditions might be a way for all of us to do our part. …
Shareholders Should be Heard, Not Muzzled
The full article from ThinkAdvisor, April 13, 2020, is available at here.
Introduction:
The Securities and Exchange Commission is attempting to bar many investors from pushing corporations to address major issues, including climate change, lobbying and election spending transparency, human…
Whether they’re hollow or filled with ganache, every Easter egg contains a complex, globalised trade network within it. The cocoa used to make the chocolate was most likely grown in West Africa – around 70% of the world’s supply is.
Once grown, the beans might be sold to a large processor, to be made into butter, powder or liqueur. Though they’re…
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mighty Earth, Green America, and Be Slavery Free published a joint Easter scorecard, analyzing what the world’s biggest chocolate companies are doing to address social and environmental concerns. Godiva receives the “Rotten Egg Award” for its poor performance, and Tony’s Chocolonely receives the “Golden Egg Award…
Plastic wrap safely seals food so you can save it for later, but like all single-use plastics, it’s bad for the environment.
Bee’s Wrap is an eco-friendly alternative that’s made from organic cotton coated in bee’s wax, jojoba oil, and tree resin.
It’s compostable and biodegradable, so when you can’t reuse it anymore, it’s safe to dispose…
Lawns are an American obsession. Since the mass proliferation of suburbs in the 1950s and '60s, these pristine carpets of green turf have been meticulously maintained by suburbanites, with grass length and other aesthetic considerations enforced with bylaws and by homeowner associations.
But for nature, lawns offer little. Their maintenance…
The global shift — albeit, a slow shift — to renewable energy sources is starting to pay off. According to a new report, last year, CO2 power sector emissions dropped by 2 percent. This is the greatest reduction we've seen in about three decades, and it's largely thanks to a few key regions using more renewables and less coal in…
Horizon Organic, the largest USDA certified organic dairy brand in the world, today announced a commitment to become carbon positive by 2025. Horizon Organic’s goal is to be the first national dairy brand to become carbon positive across its full supply chain. The company plans to achieve carbon neutrality, and then go further to remove,…
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on Monday announced a commitment of US$10 billion of his personal money to the newly launched Bezos Earth Fund to fight climate change.
"Climate change is the biggest threat to our planet," Bezos wrote. "This global initiative will fund scientists, activists, NGOs (non-governmental organizations) -- any effort that offers a…
Right across from Atholton High School in Columbia, Maryland, sits a garden roughly a third of an acre with rows of vegetable beds and a newly added pond to encourage wildlife. The garden, located along the road so it’s the first thing people see when they drive past, is being managed mostly by students who planted their first perennial seeds to…
WASHINGTON, DC (Feb. 5, 2020) – As of Monday’s deadline for public comments on the SEC’s proposed restriction on shareholder rights, a broad group of investors has weighed in strongly against the SEC’s proposal to limit shareholders’ rights to file proposals for shareholders to consider and vote on at annual shareholders meetings.
Commenters…
A coalition of environmental and advocacy groups is petitioning the Securities and Exchange Commission asking that it not adopt changes to its regulations that would reduce the number of shareholders who can present resolutions to a corporation.
The coalition claims the regulation changes would “muzzle” many smaller groups of shareholders that…
On the final day of public comment on two related proposals by the Securities and Exchange Commission on proxy voting rules, a petition signed by more than 18,000 individuals opposing the policy change was submitted to the SEC, which was also the subject of a protest by some of the signatories.
Green America, a not-for-profit membership…
Vital Shareholder Proposal Process Has Allowed Investors to Raise Important Social, Environmental and Governance Issues with Corporate America.
WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Concerned citizens delivered over 18,000 signatures to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) in a major show of opposition to a SEC rule proposal that would…
A proposed SEC rule would limit the influence shareholders have on the corporations they own, according to advocates who delivered more than 18,000 signatures opposing the change to the commission's headquarters in Washington, D.C., today.
According to Andrew Behar, CEO at As You Sow, a nonprofit advocacy…
Like many soon-to-be empty-nesters, Vered DeLeeuw and her husband have been thinking about downsizing. Surveying her garage, DeLeeuw noticed boxes of documents, pay stubs, bills, credit card statements — 20 years worth — and realized the harsh truth: She was a paper pack rat.
Using a paper shredder, it took her two months to trash…
It’s official: Amazon is mammoth, at over 750,000 employees, and growing swiftly. Nearly 100,000 workers were hired in the third quarter alone. For comparison, fellow behemoths Google, Apple, and Microsoft all employ 100,000 to 145,000 workers.
Now a resistance is forming. “We are joining together to stop Amazon’s growing, powerful…
Would you like a receipt? That's usually a simple question to answer. Most people want to make sure their purchases were rung up correctly or make returns easier.
The tougher question these days is this one: paper or digital?
Digital receipts – electronic versions sent via email, text or app – are growing in popularity and can be handy…
Americans are good at a lot of things: making cheese, sending astronauts to space, playing football. But we’re bad at recycling. We recycle only 34 percent of the paper, glass, plastic and other stuff that we could, according to Beth Porter. She’s the climate and recycling director for Green America, a nonprofit organization that supports…
Deciding what candy to give at Halloween can be a difficult choice. Do you want to be a Mounds person or an Almond Joy person? Do you want to give out raisins (hopefully not)? But if you decide on M&Ms or Butterfingers or even the cheerfully named Mr. Goodbar, you might be doing something pretty scary.
Those treats all come from major…
Scares are expected during the Halloween season, but your candy shouldn’t be one of the sources of them. Unfortunately, there are some pretty horrifying practices that go on in the making of some of the most popular mass market candies – especially chocolate.
If you’re already a person who avoids dairy for ethical reasons, be it the…
Major chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt and Hershey are failing to make sure their suppliers don’t use children as workers, according to a new ranking by activists released last week.
Godiva was rated the worst, followed by Ferrero and Mondalez on a scorecard of efforts to reduce child labor and deforestation published by the activist…
Chocolate is already known as a guilty pleasure, but a new report might leave you feeling legitimately guilty about the path cocoa takes to reach some of your favorite sweets. Green America—a non-profit dedicated to creating "a socially just and environmentally sustainable society"—recently released its "Chocolate Scorecard"…
Chocolate is already known as a guilty pleasure, but a new report might leave you feeling legitimately guilty about the path cocoa takes to reach some of your favorite sweets. Green America—a non-profit dedicated to creating "a socially just and environmentally sustainable society"—recently released its "Chocolate Scorecard"…
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Major chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt and Hershey are failing to keep child labor out of their supply chains, according to a new ranking by activists released on Thursday.
Godiva was rated the worst, followed by Ferrero and Mondalez on a scorecard of efforts to reduce child labor and deforestation…
A U.S.-based green economy group says some of the world’s most popular chocolate companies are not so sweet when it comes to human rights and sustainability.
Green America gives Godiva chocolate an F in efforts to reduce child labor and deforestation in cocoa production and supply chains.
Ferroro and Mondelez were both rated D while giant…
NEW YORK, Oct 10 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Major chocolate companies such as Godiva, Lindt and Hershey are failing to keep child labor out of their supply chains, according to a new ranking by activists released on Thursday.
Godiva was rated the worst, followed by Ferrero and Mondalez on a scorecard of efforts to reduce child labor and…
Teenage Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg grabbed headlines in the U.S. last month when she traveled to the 2019 UN Climate Action Summit in a sailboat and then accused adults of having stolen her generation’s hopes and dreams with their inaction on climate change. But in her home country, Thunberg and her movement …
If climate change feels like an impossibly knotty threat to unravel, consider the outlook of Alisa Gravitz (MBA 1980), who sees being carbon negative worldwide by 2050 as entirely possible. As president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit Green America, Gravitz leverages the economic power of consumers, investors, and…
Let’s move past the green and gene revolutions to a microbiome renaissance
By Louise Elizabeth Maher-Johnson, Ayana Elizabeth Johnson on August 20, 2019
Editor’s Note (9/3/2019): This post has been substantially rewritten to change or eliminate claims and sourcing that did not meet Scientific American’s…
A new report says that brands like J.Crew, Urban Outfitters, Forever21, and Carter’s fail to disclose important information about their chemical practices.
By Elizabeth Segran
It’s back-to-school time, but you might want to think twice before you load up on new outfits at the mall. Green America, a nonprofit committed to social and…
Being environmentally conscious is not all about plastic bags; it’s about making everyday choices that will — quite literally — determine our success or failure as a species. We can be more conscious about reducing pollution, protecting wildlife, conserving natural resources and take other actions that can help slow the rate of climate change.…
This story was written in collaboration with Forbes Finds. Forbes Finds covers products we think you’ll love. Featured products are independently selected and linked to for your convenience. If you buy something using a link on this page, Forbes may receive a small share of that sale.
Flower deliveries on Mother's Day are…
Forget aesthetics: Lawns can raise food, restore habitats, and even store carbon
By Patrick Sisson May 1, 2019, 12:33pm EDT
If Americans want to reduce their environmental footprints, one of the first steps may be reexamining what’s in their backyards. The lawn-industrial complex, and our country’s obsession over manicured carpets…
Going green may be trendy, but it’s not just a fad. “The climate crisis is intensifying, with eminent scientists warning that our actions over the coming decade will determine how life on Earth will, or will not, prevail,” said Fran Teplitz, executive co-director of business, investing and policy at Green America, an environmental and social…
By The Associated Press
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California would become the first state to require businesses to offer electronic receipts unless customers ask for paper copies under legislation proposed on Tuesday.
Many businesses and consumers already are moving toward e-receipts, said Democratic Assemblyman Phil Ting of San Francisco.…
A California lawmaker introduced legislation this week that would make the state the first to bar retailers from giving out printed receipts unless a customer requests them.
The proposed measure — Assembly Bill 161 — would require stores to use electronic receipts as the default option. Stores that give out printed receipts without…
By Steph Yi
Twinkling pine, spruce and fir trees bring holiday cheer to homes around the world. But with the end of festivities comes the not-so-jolly chore of disrobing and discarding these unwieldy house guests.
You don’t want your Christmas tree to end up in a landfill, where it will take forever to decompose. So what’s the most…
This Christmas, Mariah Byrne was set on buying a hammock for a college friend. Preferably, she’d find just the right one from an environmentally conscious outdoor retailer.
She checked REI. Too expensive. She looked at Patagonia. Also beyond her budget as a graduate student.
So resist as she might, Byrne, 26, settled for a much cheaper option on…
Beth Porter is Green America’s Climate & Recycling Director, as well as the author of Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine: Sorting Out the Recycling System who joins Jonathan to talk all things recycling; what is is, how it works, if plastic straws are as dangerous we’ve been told, how oil prices effect recycled plastic demands, and more.
Listen to the…
T-Mobile announced its second wind farm project as it continues efforts to sustainably sourcing its energy.
In late January, T-Mobile announced its decision to shift to 100 percent renewable energy by 2021. In addition, they became the first U.S. carrier to join forces with over 100 influential businesses committed to the same goal via…
From record-breaking marches and protests to devastating generational weather events to the strength of the #MeToo movement, in my last piece, I pointed out that 2017 transformed how our society works and lives, which simultaneously created new chapters in the evolution of corporate social responsibility.
With the stakes higher than ever for…
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We’ve carefully selected these nonprofits because they’re actively working toward sustainability and protecting the environment. Nominate a notable nonprofit by emailing us at nominations@healthline.com
Humans have an impact on just about every aspect of the environment. As our population expands, so does our potential for disrupting…
