BUSINESSES – HEROES
TAKING ACTION TOWARD 100% RENEWABLE ENERGY
Corporations hold significantly more responsibility for greenhouse gas production than do individuals. In fact, as few as 90 companies cause as much as two-thirds of global emissions. That share also represents the magnitude of impact corporations can have on reducing greenhouse gas production – by going green themselves thereby influencing the economy towards clean energy.
So far (January, 2021), over 280 companies listed in RE100’s list of companies, have pledged to go 100% renewable (up from 175 a year ago). Some intend to reach their goals as early as the end of 2020, some as late as 2050. Some of their goals are for carbon neutrality (meaning they have committed to producing as much renewable energy as they consume) and some goals are focused on sourcing 100% renewable electricity for portions or all of their business needs. Walmart, for example and among other things, has a goal of avoiding one billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and working hard to get their 2,300 suppliers on board, figuring they are all in this together. One of the avenues they are pursuing is “to educate their suppliers on renewable energy options and help them through the conversion — a process Walmart’s Senior Director of Sustainability Zach Freeze said can be daunting for any supplier — especially small ones.”
The RE100 companies are taking action in numerous ways to become renewable — through their production, their infrastructure, supply chain, and/or transportation. They are conserving, reusing, replacing and/or recycling in one commendable manner or another.
As you investigate the RE100 list or the manufacturers on this page, you may find companies missing, despite their remarkable strides to mitigate global warming, in specific categories. Look here for:
- Companies specifically focused on investments or divestment or insurance are in the ECONOMICS section
- Utilities or other energy companies, promoting or facilitating clean energy, are in the ENERGY section
- Companies solely focused on waste, trash or recycling are in the WASTE section.
01/05/22
In the year of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report and COP26, the need for transformational, urgent and collaborative change across the world is more urgent than ever. Environmental issues such as climate change, water risk…
01/04/22
Global environmental non-profit CDP acknowledges Ørsted as a global leader on climate action for the third year in a row. Since CDP’s assessment, Ørsted had its 2040 net-zero target approved as science-based as only one…
05/07/21
Regenerative agriculture was once a backwater of experimental farming strategies. Now Timberland, and its parent company VF Corporation, have pushed it into the limelight by announcing the first regenerative rubber supply system in the apparel…
04/23/21
It’s Earth Day 2021, and I hope the world’s leaders will boldly go where none have gone before. I am optimistic.
04/15/21
Facebook said Thursday it had procured enough new renewable projects to meet 100% of energy needs for its global operations through clean resources, as of last year. The company has contracts in place for more…
03/03/21
A $100 million gift from FedEx will help fund a new center at Yale University focused on developing natural solutions for reducing atmospheric carbon. The Center for Natural Carbon Capture will support and accelerate research across academic…
02/10/21
Giving public health professionals the tools to protect the public and save lives.
02/04/21
As an early adopter of rooftop solar, Ikea is always worth watching for innovative, energy-centric approaches to retailing, and the latest news from the company could ripple out to influence other retailers, too.
07/29/20
Lisa Jackson, Apple's VP of Environment, Policy and Social Initiatives, recently dropped the company's latest Environmental Progress Report. It's easy to be skeptical about such things, especially when you see people l
06/15/20
More than that, it’s going to show its work: each of the company’s 70,000 products will show on their labels how much greenhouse gas was emitted in the process of manufacturing and shipping them to…
04/15/20
Sustainable fashion brand Allbirds has just announced it has become the first fashion brand to label every item produced with its carbon footprint.
02/19/20
The funding announcement "dwarfs other philanthropy in this realm," and could go toward anything from an amplified Beyond Carbon campaign, to a mass electric vehicle rollout, stakeholders mused.
02/18/20
Following the February 17 announcement by Penguin Random House parent company Bertelsmann that the conglomerate will be carbon neutral by 2030, PRH global CEO Markus Dohle sent a letter to employees outlining the publisher’s role…
02/04/20
It looks like plastic. It acts like plastic but it isn’t. And, it’s compostable. Seattle based PCC Markets is eliminating its recyclable plastics packaging and making it compostable. PCC CEO Cate Hardy said their goal…
01/21/20
From Microsoft going carbon negative to Starbucks announcing a (somewhat vague) goal to become “resource positive,” it seems that major companies are announcing new sustainability efforts every day. But which ones are doing the most…
01/06/20
JetBlue is tackling the high environmental impact of flying by aiming to become carbon neutral on all domestic flights by July 2020, according to a press release Monday.
07/23/19
Kendra Kuhl, Nicholas Flanders and Etosha Cave: have a company called OPUS 12 devoted to ridding the world of CO2—They have developed a device that recycles CO₂ into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels, creating a new…
07/23/19
Billy Parish’s company, Mosaic, has simplified the solar market by offering a solar mortgage that customers pay down using the savings from their electricity bill. Even accounting for interest payments of five or six percent,…
07/03/19
Everlane has committed to no new plastic in their supply chain by 2021, and created a line of outerwear made from discarded plastic bottles.
07/03/19
60% of Athleta’s materials are now made from sustainable fibers.
07/03/19
Allbirds has pledged to be carbon neutral in 2019. They will purchase credits from third-party verified emissions reduction projects, commonly known as “carbon offsets.” These projects do things like protect trees that capture and store…
06/11/19
Elon Musk is the co-founder and CEO at Tesla, overseeing all product design, engineering and manufacturing of the company’s electric vehicles, their battery products, and solar roof tiles. Since the company’s inception in 2003, his…
06/06/19
Michael R. Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City, said on Friday he would donate $500 million to a new campaign to close every coal-fired power plant in the United States and halt the…
05/22/19
Bren Smith, GreenWave executive director and owner of Thimble Island Ocean Farm, pioneered the development of restorative 3D Ocean Farming through kelp farming off the coast of Connecticut. A lifelong commercial fisherman, he was named…
05/22/19
When Pat Brown, a former pediatrician-turned-Stanford professor discovered that problem was — namely the “catastrophic use of animals in our food system” — he realized he had to go “all in.” Brown is the founder…
05/22/19
Determined to solve the climate crisis, Scott and Julie Brusaw founded Solar Roadways after learning the U.S. had over 72,000 square kilometers of asphalt and concrete surfaces exposed to the sun.
05/22/19
In a letter posted to LinkedIn in 2018, Patagonia’s CEO, Rose Marcario announced the company is donating all $10 million to non-profit groups who work on issues related to climate change and the environment. Patagonia’s…
05/02/19
Jeremy Grantham is the co-founder and chief investment strategist at Grantham Mayo van Otterloo (GMO) and founder of the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment. He has committed to devote 98 percent of…
