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 (September, 2020), 250 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.

Allbirds

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…
Apple
Treehugger

Apple Promises to Be Carbon Neutral by 2030

By Lloyd Alter   Photo by Kevin Frayer  07/29/2020   
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

Athleta

60% of Athleta’s materials are now made from sustainable fibers.

Everlane

Everlane has committed to no new plastic in their supply chain by 2021, and created a line of outerwear made from discarded plastic bottles.

Grantham Mayo van Otterloo (GMO)

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…

GreenWave

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…

Impossible Foods

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…
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