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EarthTalk: How Can We Convince Corporations to Act Responsibly Toward the Environment?

070411_pvc.gifBeyond the simple exercising of one’s own purchasing power, there are many actions consumers can take-and organizations and resources available to help-to pressure companies to green up their ways. (…) Another effort, “Be Safe PVC,” conducted in partnership with the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, encourages major companies to phase out their use of the highly toxic plastic, polyvinyl chloride (PVC). They’ve already convinced Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Victoria’s Secret, and Bath and Body Works to phase out PVC in their packaging.(…) Ecopledge, recruits consumers to sign “pledges,” which demand specific improvements to companies’ environmental behavior and promise to cease doing business with the firms in question if they do not make efforts to green their practices. Armed with such pledges, Ecopledge has succeeded in convincing Dell and Apple to reduce the amount of e-waste they generate, getting ConocoPhilips and BP to drop out of Arctic Power (a lobbying entity pushing to open up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling), and working with Staples and Office Depot to craft green-friendly paper sourcing policies. Ecopledge is currently working on a campaign to pressure major rental car companies, including Enterprise, Hertz, Cendant and Vanguard, to buy and rent cleaner cars, an effort, they say, that would save 500 million gallons of gasoline, reduce CO2 emissions by 14 billions of pounds, and save American drivers some two billion dollars in gasoline expenses every year. They are also pressuring major meat producers, including Premium Standard Farms, Smithfield and Tyson, to clean up hog and other animal waste that is causing widespread damage to the environment and human health in their areas of operation. Image source: besafenet.com

News selected by Covalence | Country: USA | Company: Microsoft, Johnson & Johnson, Victoria’s Secret, Bath and Body Works, ConocoPhilips, BP, Hertz, Vanguard | Source: EarthTalk / AlterNet

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