During my first few weeks as a founding expert here at Keyboard Culture, I wrote that the quest to go green in the consumer marketplace (and thus score an important victory in the battle against global warming) necessitates  two key steps:

1) Enabling consumers to create their own demand for green products and services; and

2) Making the effort cultural

Simply stated, the environmental community faces something of a chicken-and-egg scenario in going green but market leaders such as Citibank are helping advance the dialog through broad efforts such as paperless initiatives. Operating in a manner which encourages customers and vendors to obtain their account statements exclusively over the Internet and pay their bills in the same manner, we can chip away at entrenched practices.

I am somewhat embarrassed to share that despite my passion for environmental causes, I resisted paperless statements from Citibank and other financial providers for many years. Because I also work in the information technology field, I had just as many technical reasons as I did emotional ones but it wasn’t until I had been an Internet power user for nearly a decade that I went fully paperless with my monthly bills.

The good news is that most financial services providers now offer paperless options, not always for the same reasons but the results are the same. Just look at the results which Citibank achieved with its credit card customers in the first 18 months of its cultural shift toward 100% acceptance of paperless statements:

• 1.8 million trees planted

• 6,800 trees saved thus

• helping make 14 national forests greener

Citibank is far from perfect, persisting in dirty lending practices to resource extraction projects in emerging nations (and we must continue to advocate for an end to such loans). Nevertheless, there can be no denying that customers of the credit card division of Citibank are experiencing a cultural shift, one which helps expand their comfort zone with respect to paperless billing statements and thus making them more open to doing business the same way with their electrical utility or their local tax directorate or other entity with whom they conduct commerce.

I commend Citibank and encourage its peers to emulate the mission statement listed below. It constitutes a very solid beginning for one of the world’s largest financial services institutions.

"We’re on a global mission. Citi is committed to directing $50 billion over the next 10 years to address global climate change through investments, financings and related activities to support the commercialization and growth of alternative energy and clean technology among the clients and markets it serves, as well as within its own businesses and operations."

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Sugarplums and Monocultures

Much like always obtaining a plastic bag when making a retail purchase, buying, mounting and decorating a fir or spruce tree during the month of December is a tradition for millions of people. I find Christmas trees to be among the most festive aspects of the holiday season each year. So, don’t worry, I will not advocate that we dispense with them. However, there are important steps we can take to choose sustainable Christmas trees so as to minimize the damage to the environment, especially in light of the importance of maintaining our global tree canopy as I have explained many times.

The first and most significant question is that of a natural tree or a plastic one. As I shared back in January, the plastic Christmas tree in the Kroehler household is decades old and shows its age. Nevertheless, through simple mathematics, we know that literally dozens of natural trees have been left alive because we have an artificial tree. So, this alternative to natural trees is better if you can reuse it for many years.

If you are compelled to use the real thing, aim for an organic tree. Unlike organic food, which focuses mostly on the lack of pesticides, organic/sustainable Christmas trees are grown in diverse forests, rather than the other way which often takes wooded areas with a variety of tree species growing on them and flattens them in favor of growing a single type of tree. While better for the air than chopping down trees and never replacing them, this method of growing Christmas trees in the absence of all other species, known as a monoculture, is hard on the environment.

You see, Christmas trees which are allowed to grow and thrive in the forest perform an important role in the environment, just like other trees. They provide shade. They fertilize the soil. They retain water and deflect wind and rain-born erosion. The list of benefits to the environment goes on. That’s why organic/sustainable Christmas trees are so important and why you should consider investing the effort in finding a vendor who sells them rather than factory-style arbors.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

In the industrialized world, transportation accounts for about 40% of air pollution and emissions of greenhouse gases, including carbon. Since automobiles remain a growing trend within the industrialized world, they are a great concern to everyone fighting global warming. Naturally, I am convinced that the Interstate Traveler Hydrogen Superhighway is the best solution because it is clean but does not ask people to sacrifice car ownership.

I am equally convinced, however, that the only viable solution to reversing the global climate crisis is one in which cars are clean to manufacture, maintain and operate. Hyundai Motor Company, in partnership with CarbonFund.org, has vaulted into the pole position among the major automakers with its commitment to the Genesis Forest Project. This insightful initiative is key in Hyundai’s corporate commitment to offset 100% of the carbon emissions caused in 2009 by the manufacture of every car in the Genesis line sold in the United States, estimated at 3,000 vehicles.

Wow!

The good news continues, too. Hyundai will encourage its customers to contribute to the Genesis Forest Project in Brazil thus offsetting the operation of their cars. I congratulate Hyundai Motor Company for its bold step and CarbonFund.org for facilitating the online carbon calculator and other tools which allow Hyundai drivers to be greener.

I am equally pleased to share with you the fact that the Genesis Forest Project is no mere carbon sequestration site. Nay, it is a very progressive wildlife preservation project in the Cerrado region of Brazil, classified as a biodiversity hotspot. What’s more, the project embraces the Social Carbon Methodology.

What is that, you may ask? Here is a quote from SocialCarbon.com...

The Social Carbon Methodology uses a set of analytical tools that assess the social, environmental and economic condition of communities affected by projects, and demonstrate through continuous monitoring the project’s contribution to sustainable development.

In other words, when Hyundai offsets the carbon from its operations, it does not simply preserve habitat or replant trees, which would be good steps on their own. Instead, they engage with the local populations to create green, sustainable jobs, teaching the residents there how to earn a living through protecting their surroundings rather than slashing them. The chart below explains with visual impact just how the social benefits of clean operations intersect and are proportional. It is from the Araguaia Settlement community, one of the projects of the Ecológica Institute, creators of the Social Carbon Methodology.

In my next post, I will share with you the significance of the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards in the Genesis Forest Project.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Confronting Climate Change. Helping Communities. Conserving Biodiversity.

Last time, I told you about the Genesis Forest Project. I continue grinning from ear to ear whenever I ponder the broad ramifications. Then, I factor in adherence to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards of ClimateStandards.org and nearly do a cartwheel. After many years of apathy toward global warming by most members of the business community, the climate crisis is gaining significant traction.

ClimateStandards.org is an alliance of key polluters, environmental advocates and researchers including such big names as British Petroleum, the Nature Conservancy and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Together, this alliance has created the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards. An impressive set of methodologies which evaluate land-based carbon mitigation projects in the early stages of development, the specific requirements call for participants to:

• Identify projects that simultaneously address climate change, support local communities and conserve biodiversity;

• Promote excellence and innovation in project design; and

• Mitigate risk for investors and increase funding opportunities for project developers.

What a powerful combination!

Naturally, I advocate strongly for everyone to embrace energy efficiency as my wife and I have and then purchase carbon credits for the rest. However, as our choices among carbon credit providers grow, we now have a layer of protection against substandard or myopic projects which sequester carbon but do little to assist local communities, create green jobs or foment innovation in the low-carbon economy.

Even if you do not own a Hyundai Genesis, you can offset the carbon emitted by your driving through Hyundai’s partnership with CarbonFund.org in which the Genesis Forest Project is the recipient of the proceeds of offsets purchased. That project adheres to the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standards of ClimateStandards.org making the entire project a deep, lovely hue of green.

Keep at it, folks! You’re doing great!

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

I spend quite a bit of time here on Keyboard Culture Global Warming on coverage of deforestation. Some deforestation is relatively benign, part of the natural growth of the global population. Much of it, however, is industrial and grotesque, with vast areas felled seemingly overnight and nothing but ugly open space without a whit of nature left standing.

Since clear cutting has not been common practice in the more enlightened industrialized nations for some time, many of us have no grasp on how devastating it can be. On the other hand, because strip mining remains somewhat prevalent, especially in areas with geological deposits of uranium, we can recall our emotional reaction to the enormous wounds on the landscape left by that ugly practice.

Mountaintop removal mining is to forests what strip mining is to glades and prairies – to be avoided with vigor. How do we stop mountaintop removal mining, though? Government bans, of course, are vital and I have high hopes that President Barack Obama will reinstate the bans which his predecessor loosened. However, another avenue is to convince banks to stop financing projects which engage in mountaintop removal mining.

Citi is an example of a bank which is making large strides in saving forests but which still invests in projects which practice mountaintop removal mining. Back in October, I told you about the superb reforestation project which Citi has undertaken. My praise for it has not changed. However, the arithmetic is inescapable. Mountaintop removal mining destroys trees with great rapidity and the landscape where trees can be replanted. No amount of investment from incremental programs such as Citi promotes can undo such damage. Only the cessation of mountaintop removal mining can do that.

I call on all investment banks which fund such mining projects to mend their ways as a new year’s resolution. To learn what you can do to help stop the forest carnage, visit

ILoveMountains.org

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Last time, I told you about mountaintop removal mining and the role of investment banks in funding it. A counterpart in the financing of forest carnage is Bank of America, roughly the same size in terms of assets under management as Citi. The good news is that Bank of America has mended its ways. While the environmental community will need to remain vigilant, the moment is ripe to congratulate BofA and all residents of Appalachia for this important victory.

Of course, it would not have happened with many hours of thankless hard work from true environmental pioneers such as the members of the Rainforest Action Network, Appalachian Voices and their allies. My hat is off to you, friends!

Naturally, when these fearless groups began their peaceful demonstrations and non-violent protests, BofA resisted with its last ounce of strength. As so often is the case, such as with Citi, the senior management and board of directors were so insulated from reality and content to focus on quarter profit reports that they could not see the obvious truth that destroying Purple Mountain’s Majesty for a few measly dollars does not constitute good corporate stewardship.

That they came to the correct conclusion is praiseworthy and reminds me of similar victories almost ten years ago over the office supply giant Staples. Rainforest Action Network and many of its friends had won a victory from Office Depot to introduce a minimum blend of recycled fiber content into all of its paper products sold by the ream but Staples resisted. Its senior management stonewalled, ignoring requests for public comment and deflecting accusations that it didn’t care about the environment. However, when some of its stores were subjected to leafleting and peaceful demonstrations which damaged the firm’s public perception, the corporate posture changed quickly and Staples suddenly took on a leadership position in the numbers and types of recycled paper products it offers.

These are the types of victories in which the environmental community must invent in this new century. We receive more bad news about the climate crisis most every week and our forests are key to sequestering some of the carbon which we have dumped and continue to dump into the atmosphere. For this reason, recent victories such as the new lending policy from Bank of America make me smile. I leave you with an excerpt from the new Bank of America coal policy...

“Bank of America is particularly concerned about surface mining conducted through mountaintop removal in locations such as central Appalachia. We therefore will phase out financing of companies whose predominant method of extracting coal is through mountaintop removal. While we acknowledge that surface mining is economically efficient and creates jobs, it can be conducted in a way that minimizes environmental impacts in certain geographies.”

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Two main themes which I give recurring coverage here on Keyboard Culture are deforestation and cultural change. If we really want to fight global warming, we must eliminate deforestation on a mass scale but we also must effect permanent social change so that living and working green becomes a matter of personal and professional pride for people the world over.

However, such concepts are wholly alien to the billions of people who live below the poverty line, struggling to survive (and often losing) every single day. They don’t have nice things like Internet access or the money to afford carbon offsets to green the planet while retaining access to material wealth. No, many of the poorest people in the world cause deforestation because their survival depends on it, not that they enjoy despoiling their home.

The island nation of Madagascar is a prime example. Already scarred by the loss of more than 90% of its boreal forest cover, Madagascar is home to many thousands of people who live in or near the remaining sliver of forest. However, they have neither the skills nor the tools to live in harmony with the forest. Instead, they slash more and more of it every day in order to make charcoal for cooking.

To us, this method of food preparation seems grossly inefficient. Of course, it is but these poor people have no practical alternative because they live in abject poverty.

What is to be done?

Enter innovations such as the solar cooker. Costing just €5, this device is ingenious in its simplicity. Called the Kyoto Box for its ability to aid developing nations in complying with their reductions in greenhouse gas emissions dictated by the global accord, the solar cooker recently won the Financial Times’ Climate Change Challenge and with good reason.

Why is it such a powerful product? Well, it allows people who ordinarily cook with charcoal wrested from endangered forests to use the power of the sun and leave the trees standing. Moreover, no greenhouse gas emissions are involved once the product is created and delivered because it is solar powered, solar-thermal powered to be specific. Last but certainly not least, the Kyoto Box can be reused many, many times whereas charcoal generally is useless after a very short period of time.

There are ancillary benefits, too. The Kyoto Box can be used to purify water, which can have a huge impact on the incidence of cholera and other water-borne diseases plus assist people in living father from dwindling sources of fresh water in the developing world. I commend inventor Jon Bøhmer for his work and exhort everyone to fight for adoption of exciting innovations such as Bøhmer’s Kyoto Box in the developing world.

To learn more, visit

kyoto-energy.com/kyoto-box.html

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler

Credit: greenlaunches.com

When I told you about the Kyoto Box solar cooker, I contextualized its benefits as humanitarian and environmental by explaining the methods utilized by many people in Madagascar to cook food, under conditions which even the indigenous tribes would call primitive. Upon initial consideration, it may be difficult for my readers to grasp how there can be a direct link between such a hand-to-mouth existence and deforestation. Trust me, there is. For the complete explanation, I encourage you to read my original post by clicking here.

Although I am proud of Jon Bøhmer for inventing the Kyoto Box, proud of the Financial Times for seeing fit to recognize the Kyoto Box with a prestigious prize and proud of myself for reporting on all of it, can I truly state that I effected broad change in the battle against global warming with my prose? Perhaps not! So, let’s open a second front in the same battle, deforestation in Madagascar. The good people at Sustainable Travel International can be key allies in that battle.

At this time of year, many people travel. I certainly do. Concurrently, at this time of year, many people purchase, receive, spend or regift the panoply of gift cards which are available from retailers and online vendors most everywhere. Having given and received (but never regifted) these nifty pieces of plastic, I understand their appeal. However, that same appeal begs a question: can they be sustainable?

The commendable Travelers Giving Back™ sustainable gift cards from Sustainable Travel International most definitely are sustainable and help fight deforestation in Madagascar! I’m all for that!

Offering us the option of investing in a broad portfolio of philanthropic and sustainability projects, including the fight against deforestation through guaranteed carbon offsets acquired in Madagascar, one of only 34 globally recognized biodiversity hotspots, these biodegradable gift cards make the perfect present for most any occasion but particularly for people who travel on a regular basis.

I thank the Sustainable Travel International organization for its work in favor of sustainability in general and deforestation in Madagascar in particular and encourage you to consider a sustainable gift card for your special someone.

You’ll find all of the details about sustainable gift cards from Sustainable Travel International at

sustainabletravel.com/giftcard

and the fight against deforestation in Madagascar at

sustainabletravelinternational.org/documents/projects_madagascar.html

Disclosure of consideration: The opinions expressed in this blog post are my own. They were not influenced by any outside party. Moreover, I have no financial interest in Sustainable Travel International, Conservation International or the WCS.

Fomenting the Triple Bottom Line

Corbett Kroehler