Monthly Archives: February 2013

Imagine this. You are in a school cafeteria, and there are several apples to choose from. All of the apples look immaculate except for this one in the corner. This particular apple is slightly blemished and mishappen. You avoid picking the blemished apple and so do the several people after you. No one picks that particular apple and it is thrown into the trash at the end of the day. Perhaps we think that the apple is spoiled or not as nutritious as the immaculate looking apples next to it. As consumers, we are conditioned to want perfect looking fruit and we don’t realize that it generally doesn’t make a difference taste or nutrition wise.

Last month, the UN Environment Programme and the Food and Agricultural Organization launched a global campaign to reduce food waste. According to the UN, nearly one third of all food produced (1.3 billion tons) is wasted each year. 300 tons of this wasted food could feed the 900 million hungry people around the world.  The campaign is targeted to food producers, consumers and retailers. Inefficient processing by producers, extended travel times and bad habits by both consumers and retailers contribute heavily to the waste problem. Based on the concepts of Think. Eat. and Save, the goal of the campaign is to link all the conversations about food waste into one place and to encourage the sharing of tips, experience and good practices.

This is also a huge carbon footprint problem. Think of all the wasted energy and resources used to grow and distribute food in the first place. We really need to reconsider how we eat and our consumption patterns. So what can we do? Luckily, the Think. Eat. Save. campaign has shared some tips on reducing our carbon footprint and our grocery bill:

1. Shop Smart—plan meals, use shopping lists and avoid impulse buys.
2. Buy Funny Fruit
3. Understand Expiration Dates— in the US, “sell-by” and “use-by” dates are not federally regulated and do not indicate safety, except on certain baby foods. Most foods can be safely consumed well after their use-by dates.
4. Zero Down Your Fridge—eat food that is already in your fridge before buying more or making something new, which will save time and money.
5. Say Freeze and Use Your Freezer—frozen foods remain safe indefinitely.
6. Request Smaller Portions—restaurants will often provide half-portions upon request at reduced prices.
7. Compost—composting food scraps can reduce climate impact while also recycling nutrients.
8. Use FIFO (First in First Out) as a kitchen rule.
9. Love Leftovers –tonight’s leftover chicken roast can be part of tomorrow’s sandwich.
10. Donate—non-perishable and unspoiled perishable food can be donated to local food banks, soup kitchens, pantries and shelters.

-JN

Stonyfield Farm (Stonyfield) is a popular organic yogurt maker found in many supermarkets. Stonyfield is know for it’s commitment to educating consumers on organic ingredients and the environment. Their website is informative and they are quite transparent on their farming practices.

The Whole Carbon Footprint

In the past, companies have prided themselves on measuring the carbon footprint of only a small portion of the supply chain. Conversely, Stonyfield has measured the full carbon footprint of over 150 of their 200 products. What is impressive is that they have considered the whole product lifecycle from raw materials to disposal.

So how do they do it? Stonyfield uses a special software created by SAP to track the real time GHG emissions produced by each process of the lifecycle.

When an order is placed for production, the software immediately assigns a carbon footprint to each of the materials. Some processes require people across the supply chain to manually input data into the software.

Stonyfield has found most of their emissions are generated by milk production (52%) followed by manufacturing (13%). To address these issues, Stonyfield has created cross-functional teams to come up with solutions. Nicknamed MAP Teams, these teams have come up with innovative solutions from decreasing farm energy use to alternative fuel sources.

Future Implications

Measuring the GHG emissions for a single product is challenging and requires a lot of time and money. It is rare to see a company in North America invest so heavily in trying to measure the whole carbon footprint of a product. The closest I have seen is probably what Carbon Trust is doing with consumer products in the UK. Working with clients through Climate Smart in Comm 388 has allowed me to realize the interest that small to medium sized businesses have to calculate their full carbon footprints. Hopefully, Stonyfield’s work in carbon management will inspire others to quickly follow suit.

-JN

Luxury fashion e-tailer Honest By claims to be the “world’s first 100% transparent company.” Honest By offers sustainable, fully supply chain transparent clothing for men and women. For every product, the company reveals: where the materials were sourced, where it was manufactured, the whole cost breakdown (down to the safety pin) and the carbon footprint. The company invites designers to create limited edition collections for the website, but designers have to adhere to strict rules regarding Honest By’s sustainable practices.

Some of these practices include using materials that are:

1. Certified-organic
2. Cruelty free
3. Vegan
4. Ethically sourced

-JN