Today is the M’Illumino di Meno 2011 day organized by Italian Rai2 
Caterpillar radio program. The campaign aims to the awaken public attention toward the energy issues by inviting people, companies and public structures (schools and municipalities) to reduce the waste of energy during this day. Many companies and municipalities have adhered to the campaign – the whole list is available here.
NH Hoteles Italia sustains this event by turning off all the facade lights of its Italian Hotels, and switching off unused energy appliances for the whole day (Source: NH Hoteles and Caterpillar)
Tag Archives: sustainability
NH Eco Conscious
Last January 10th, NH Hoteles, the leading Spanish chain of cool design hotels, has presented to the Italian market its Ecomeeting product, 
which is perfectly in line with the Company’s 2008 to 2012 Strategic Environmental Plan to reduce CO2 emission, water and energy consumption, waste generation by 20% within 2012.
The plan, principally a gathering of people for information exchange purposes, but also characterized by four distinguishing parameters:
•Efficiency in the usage of energy and water
•Low impact materials
•Fair-trade products
•carbon offsetting on client demand. Offsetting carbon strives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Companies’ offsets are typically achieved through financial support of projects that reduce the emission of greenhouse gases in the short or long term. For this purpose NH Hotels preferred choice and what they consider the best way is through renewable energy projects.
This is why NH hotels financially support a hydropower plant located in the Rôndonia, Brazil. This renewable energy river hydropower project reduces greenhouse gas emissions by displacing power from higher emission fossil fuel sources on the national electric grid.
NH Hotels clients can now choose to offset the emissions created as a result of their meeting, by including carbon offsetting in the Ecomeeting purchase agreement. The fixed extra cost is 1€ per person for low or medium travelling impacts, 2€ for meeting where attendees are coming from long distances and 3€ for transoceanic.
The client can also opt for a more detailed analysis of their meeting and the offsetting needed, NH Hoteles can calculate the offset required for the specific client. NH provides all this information for the client: client origin, destination and transportation used. Clients under this special purchase agreement will receive an official certificate issued by Carbon Clear, stating the specific amount of CO2 equivalent, compensated by the hydropower plant project (Source: NH hoteles)
A CONSCIOUS COLLECTION – SUSTAINABLE STYLE AT H&M
Sustainability is a long term trend at H&M and this April as part of the focus on sustainability H&M will introduce the Conscious Collection – The collection which is for women, men and children is made from 
enviromentally – adapted and greener materials such as organic cotton, Tencel® and recycled polyester. H&M’s designers have been inspired by different shades of white, one of the most important colours this Spring. A minimalist, tailored look is combined with romantic lace, Broderie Anglaise, frills and draping. The Conscious Collection will be on sale in all H&M stores from 14th April. 
“It’s not just about organic cotton any more, the possibilities for creating a complete fashion statement with eco smarter materials are huge now. By designing recurring Conscious Collections we have the opportunity to show in a variety of ways what’s possible using more sustainable fabrics,” says Ann-Sofie Johansson, H&M Head of design. “Shades of white are the season’s biggest fashion trend and it feels right for this collection. White creates a romantic feeling with lace and Broderie Anglaise, but is also the basic colour in a sporty, relaxed style and in a preppy tailored look for men.” Womenswear is inspired by an updated romantic style in which blouses, tunics and T-shirts with Broderie Anglaise are a key trend. Tiered dresses are perfect for day or more dramatic Grecian gowns for night. Long floaty skirts are key as are cut-off shorts. The collection also includes the perfect white blazer and pleated trousers for a more minimalist look as well as Broderie Anglaise and lace lingerie. Menswear takes on a preppy mood with a white two-button blazer, collarless shirts and T-shirts with Henley detailing at the neck. There are printed and striped T-shirts, as well as a tank top for layering and trousers are either five-pocket jeans or tailored. Meanwhile the Children’s collection is full of white pieces for both girls and boys. It’s all about tiered dresses, tops, skirts for girls, and for boys t-shirts and jeans. (Source: H&M press release, Photos: H&M)
Green labels: are EU consumers confused about them?
It all started with an article about green packaging, where there was 
a sentence regarding the the Green Guides (US Federal Trade Commission): "65 percent of Americans would prefer just one seal for green products over the hundreds that are now causing confusion. They note that it is increasingly hard to determine if a product is "truly green" or not based on available information. They are presently overwhelmed with the 350 product certifications that currently exist".
In Europe, consumers for sure know about Ecolabel and EnergyStar and…what else? I have made a very quick search on the web about the online resources available to consumers willing to understand a little bit more about "green labels". I did not find anything that is both comprehensive and easy to understand – the best resource being this PDF which is only related to UK. I think that as long as there is so much confusion about labelling, product and process certification, together with a lack of communication, consumers will have a hard time in understanding the real value of sustainable/green products and greenwashing will still be consumers first word associated to sustainability.
I think that it would be of great interest for retail companies too to contribute to a sort of global database of green seals /certifications/labels in order to better communicate with consumers. Would you, as a product manufacturer, contribute?
Last Inditex step towards sustainability
We are following 
what Inditex – whose brands are Zara and PullandBear among the many – is doing about sustainability, and we always really like it! The last news is about their Tempe subsidiary (footwear), locate in Elche (ES), where they have installed a vertical garden, a growing trend in the cutting edge cities and capitals worldwide.
The project was designed by Urbanarbolismo, which made an impressive installation of 16 meters in height, with a total area of 80 m2 and an irrigation system controlled by computer. The vertical garden can be seen from all the company's plants, offices, meeting rooms, etc., making the whole building filled with an amazing natural light. (Source: www.jardiland.es)
Green Marketing 3.0: what is it about?
Marketing, as you all know, is what enables product to be seen and purchased by consumers. For those who are in the retail business, marketing is a science to master in order to reach success and profit – I add: for more than a year! 
Something I always read to those retailers that are entering the world of “green”, is a very interesting article about Green Marketing written by Jeff Dubin a couple of months ago. For those who are interested in reading the full version, you can find it at Jacquie Ottman’s Greenmarketing.com blog. Here a few key sentences by Jacquie: “To really succeed on a wide scale in America, green products either need to establish their superiority on conventional, non-green product features such as effectiveness or price, or make green more relevant to people’s everyday lives….
If green marketers can build the case for how their products are healthier for baby and Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and.., then the greenness of a product becomes a primary benefit rather than a secondary one and the higher hanging fruit now becomes more attainable. That’s Green Marketing 3.0.”
I do agree with that, and you?
When Zero is a great result
I suggest to everybody interested in what big corporations are doing about sustainability to download the State of Green Business report by Greenbiz.com available online.
For those of you who have little time and want to hear the good news first: many big co
rporations, from Xerox to Kraft, from Procter and Gamble to Coca-Cola, are working hard at reducing if not eliminating the waste originated by the manufacturing process. Companies learnt that cutting waste can yield multiple savings, together with a better image and a greener environment.
But -here's the bad news – there is no generally accepted definition of what "zero waste" means. For some companies zero waste might include also incinerations and other technologies that many "green professionals" will not define as sustainable and eco-friendly ones.
As we always stress, a standardization of sustainability practices is a need for a better and more efficient communication with consumers and with stakeholders, so that to avoid a word that we don't like at all: greenwashing.(Photo courtesy of naem.org)
Does sustainability pays? Yes
Whenever I talk with a client about sustainability, a question arises “Does sustainability pay?”. The answer is with no doubt YES! There are researches available online showing that when customers are offered a choice, they do prefer eco-friendly products and “punish” not so sustainable brands asking a much lower price. Obviously, what companies willing to invest in sustainability must understand is that a sustainable strategy goes hand in hand with a communication strategy – otherwise consumers will not perceive the added value during the purchasing process.
A recent survey conducted by the Uk consumer organisation “Which?” showed that between 74% and 96% of the people surveyed were unaware of the big names behind 10 popular ethical brands. And, once they found out, of those whose opinion changed, more had a negative reaction than a positive one. “Consumers are being misled,” said one respondent while another commented: “I feel conned.” One reason behind this negative reaction is that interviewed were worried about large companies being more concerned with profits than ethics.
What manufacturers must really understand is that consumers are willing to buy sustainable products but at the same time are going to punish any non-ethical behaviour by asking for a very reduced price. The future of retail and of sustainability lies in the ability of producers to understand this and to act accordingly.
ECOFFEE’s green guerrilla: here’s the proof!!
Well, there is not so much to add to this great video showing the backstage of our ECOFFEE green guerrilla action during last SIGEP. Spread the video, spread sustainability!
7-Eleven embraces sustainability
As we at ECOFFEE are always saying, sustainability in the retail business is not a trend but it is a must if you want to be sucessful in the future. And when we read that giants such as Wal-Mart, Whole Foods Market, Castorama and Tesco, are actually changing their policies and store design to follow a more sustainable business we wonder when this will happen in Italy.
Today, our attention was caught by a very interesting article on the NYTimes about 7-Eleven convenience stores in Japan where fluorescent light bulbs have been replaced by the soft glow of light-emitting diodes, or LEDs, that consume half the energy and last much longer.
The 7-Eleven Japan program also includes photovoltaic panels on the store roof, and light-reflecting floor and sensors that automatically adjust the lighting.
The article also points out that this is going to be a very expensive program, being a green 7-Eleven store as much as 30 percent more expensive to build than a more traditional one. But Japanese customers are now more eco-conscious and shopping in a greener store can be more appealing to them. (Photo courtesy of Voice)
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