Tuesday, March 28, 2006

If you buy this... THIS would be a Better Alternative

Electronic Companies

Top Five for Electronics top on electronics

1) UNICCO, Integrated Facilities Services- Respect Environment!!

-UNICCO Service Company provides facility maintenance, progressive management, and employee training and development.

www.unicco.com
http://www.webbuyersguide.com/bguide/company/companyDetails.asp?Id=4800&Category=371
http://www.buildings.com/articles/detail.asp?Article ID=950

For Quick Facts: 1) Green Clean Program to ensure that facilities reach LEED requirements
2) use certified chemicals, tools, processes, training, service, and support
3) helps companies provide guaranteed cleaning services
4) lighting systems designed top reduce manpower, electricity costs
5) 95% retention rate
6) #16 on Top 200 Employers
Http://www.unicco.com/downloads /news-events/unicco-in-print/2005-Green-Expectation.odf


XM Satellite Radio


1) provides direct satellite radio to over 4.5 million consumers in the US
2)

http://news.usti.net/home/news/cn/?/tw.space/2/wed/dg/Uus-xm.RPXY_GFG.html



Microsoft Corporation top on electronics

1) Worlds #1 software company
2) Gates Foundation on charities worldwide; Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation puts an emphasis on global health; has changes the way charities do business for the better (evaluation)
a. http://www.zefhemel.com/archives/2003/10/03/what-many-people-don-t-know-about-bill-gates
b. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/3913581.stm
3) Have implemented the “Katrina Safe” system
a. http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1855722,00.asp
4) Bad labor and human rights
a. For more than 10 years, Microsoft delayed their court-ordered 97$ million payoffs to their “permatemps”
b. Permatemps are temporary workers who weren’t given regular benefits that were given to the employees
c. http://www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=12672



Comcast Cablevision worst on electronics (DirectTV is better alternative)


1) largest cable television company in the US (has 26.1 million subscribers); 53% rating on buyblue
a. one of the top union busting companies in the united states
i. http://www.buyblue.org/node/2267
2) bought AT&T cable in 2002
3) have been pushing for decertification elections
4) CWA (Communication Workers of America) have been rejected by Comcast, why 2000 employees have lost their voice over the past two years
a. Have fired those employees, spread lies, etc.

Beverages and Clothing

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Where does your money go?


This is an interesting graphic I found that relates to where your money spent on that new shirt goes. So little goes to the worker. So that is the project tonight, to find a place that gives workers FAIR pay for what they do rather then $1 or even like 50 cents an hour for making these clothes that we pay so much money for. http://www.behindthelabel.org/specialreportsretaildollars.asp

Timberland

I thought that Timberland would have bad practices, but it sounds like, from this press release that they are going to be a leader in how the clothing/shoe industry should behave, telling consumers the environmental impact of what they buy.
TIMBERLAND ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY-LEADING PACKAGING INITIATIVE THAT PROVIDES NEW LEVELS OF TRANSPARENCY FOR CONSUMERS
01/26/06STRATHAM, NH, January 26, 2006 – The Timberland Company today announced a footwear packaging initiative that reduces Timberland’s environmental impact and provides consumers with new information to help guide them in the purchase process. The initiative, the first of its kind in the retail industry, will be seen in stores in 2006. Most notably, Timberland will place a “nutritional label” on each box that will educate consumers about the product they are purchasing, including where it was manufactured, how it was produced, and its effect on the environment.Highlights of the packaging initiative include:• The “nutritional label” that will inform consumers about Timberland’s environmental and community impact.• Footwear boxes made of 100 percent recycled post-consumer waste fiber.• Footwear boxes using no chemical glues and only soy-based inks to print labels.• Messaging inside the box that asks consumers “what kind of footprint will you leave” and provides a call to action for them after purchase.“As a company, Timberland wants to make it better and the new packaging will do just that,” said Jeffrey Swartz, Timberland’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Our goal is to reduce our impact on the environment while engaging consumers to take action. This packaging and labeling initiative should make our industry more transparent and give consumers the information they need to make smart buying decisions.”The “nutritional label” has three sections: The “Manufactured” section gives the name and location of the factory where the product was made. The “Environmental Impact” section reports how much energy is needed to produce Timberland® footwear and how much of Timberland’s energy is generated from renewable resources such as the sun, wind or water. The “Community Impact” section details what percentage of factories are assessed by the company against Code of Conduct standards, the percentage of the workforce that are children and the total number of hours volunteered in the community by Timberland employees. In addition to increasing transparency with this initiative, Timberland is encouraging consumers to take action within their community. Examples of this call to action include: • Each Outdoor Performance shoe comes in a reusable “take-in, take-out” bio-degradable waste bag to be used on the trail. Children’s footwear includes tissue wrap that educates them about birds and animals in the woods. • Consumers can reuse and fill footwear boxes with donations, such as canned goods, first aid items or clothing, and send them to non-profit organizations as items are needed. Links on timberland.com will help consumers find local or national groups and then print shipping labels. “Every day, we challenge ourselves to think of ways to improve our products, the way we manufacture them and how we can become better members of our community,” said Swartz. “I believe this packaging and labeling initiative is another step in an industry-wide movement towards becoming more aware of what goes into the products we consume.” Timberland (NYSE: TBL) is a global leader in the design, engineering and marketing of premium-quality footwear, apparel and accessories for consumers who value the outdoors and their time in it. Timberland® products are sold worldwide through leading department and specialty stores as well as Timberland® retail stores. Timberland’s dedication to making quality products is matched by the company’s commitment to “doing well and doing good" -- forging powerful partnerships among employees, consumers and service partners to transform the communities in which they live and work.

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

E85

I found some stuff on E85, ethanol alcohol, the new alternative fuel that will most likely save the US from the impending oil crisis. I found an article in USA Today that states that there are already 5 million vehicles on the road that can run on corn-based ethanol alcohol. There is a list of vehicles on the GM website, that can use the fuel. Check it out and see if your car can take the fuel! However, there is a severe lack of fueling stations in the DC metro area, but that will change as popularity rises. Most ethanol fueling stations, it seems are in the midwest of the US, the corn-growing states, which makes sense. This also from the USA Today article "Ethanol yields roughly 26% more energy than it takes to produce it, according to a just-published study by the University of California at Berkeley. That's because corn grows using free sunlight and because farming has gotten very efficient. Gasoline provides only about 84% of the energy required to produce it, the study says. " According to this article, a switchover to E85 could ELIMINATE gasoline consumption in the US by 2050.

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

Kosher

RC Cola is Kosher. So are the rest of the Schweppes-Cadbury products from what I found. Cadbury, I already found to be fairly socially responsible with its production of chocolate when I was doing preliminary research. I have not found negative aspects to Cadbury-Schweppes yet. This could be a good alternative. They sell alternatives for all the TDR drinks from Coke... Rc Cola, Canada Dry gingerale, Dr. Pepper, 7-Up, IBC Root Beer, Motts Apple juice (and other apple products), Country Time lemonade, A&W Root Beer, Sunkist orange soda, Snapple, Welch's grape juice, just to name a few... the only thing I am not sure of is if they put out a bottled water...The Cadbury CO.

This has info about their social responsibility, rather than Coke's blatant defiance.
CLICK HERE for a complete list of beverages in the US made by Cadbury-Schweppes