Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Earth Day: Industry Leaders Setting Green Examples

As our world becomes more aware of the need to preserve our environment, more and more companies are making the switch to sustainable packaging. In particular, Whole Foods and Procter & Gamble are passing new regulations for sustainable and recyclable packaging.

Whole Foods’ new regulations, which went into effect in September 2010, mandate that suppliers use packaging materials that are easily reused or recycled and non-toxic, and that they switch from plastic to glass when possible. And over the next couple of years, Procter & Gamble will make the switch to sustainable packaging made from sugarcane for their top three global brands – Pantene Pro-V, CoverGirl, and MaxFactor.

It is estimated that the global sustainable packaging market will exceed $142 billion by 2015. Other “green” companies include big names such as Boeing, Chevrolet, and Clorox. Chevrolet’s 2011 Cruze Eco has been billed as a “shape-shifter” that can become more fuel-efficient on the fly, with highway mileage of up to 42 miles per gallon. And Boeing has conceptualized an aircraft, the Sugar Volt, that will burn 70 percent less fuel. This project is expected to come to fruition over the next 30 years. While this may seem a long time to wait, we believe it will be a worthy investment.

As always, we love to hear what our readers think. Do you purchase products in sustainable packaging when possible? Would you purchase the Cruze Eco or a similar car for the sake of fuel efficiency? We hope that others will do what they can to support a greener environment, not just in honor of Earth Day this month, but all year round.