Monthly Archives: January 2014

P&G recently announced that it plans to remove phosphates from all of its laundry detergents by the end of 2015. A P&G representative reported that the company is able to eliminate phosphates because they’ve invested in technology that allows them to create a phosphate-free detergent that doesn’t compromise quality. Given that P&G currently holds 25% of the world laundry detergent market, this is big news for the environment. Not surprisingly, the announcement has been picked up by many major news sources and sustainability websites, and is receiving mixed reviews.

[Side note: according to Wikipedia, the problem with phosphates is that they eventually find their way into waterways, where they cause algae blooms which deprive the water of oxygen, and no oxygen means fish can’t survive.]

As with any “green” news, the critics are asking some tough questions. The primary one is “Why now?”  Eco-friendly detergent brands such as Seventh Generation have been making phosphate-free detergents for decades. Furthermore, P&G itself stopped using phosphates in its U.S. and Western Europe-bound detergents in the ’90s due to environmental regulations, but it continues to sell detergents with phosphates in other countries.  So what has sparked P&G’s interest in voluntarily going phosphate-free, and without pressure from external regulators? P&G claims they’re doing it because they finally have the technology to do so. Critics question if the decision is related to the decreasing availability and rising cost of phosphorus (the mined natural resource that is the base of phosphates).

To me, this looks like a decision that just makes sense – from an environmental and a business perspective. Even if the move is largely profit-driven, is that such a bad thing? If we look at other companies that have invested in Eco-friendly initiatives, I think we’d find that many did so because of long-run profitability. For example, would any car company have invested in hybrid car technology if fossil fuels weren’t scarce? I don’t know the answer, but as a business student I assume that most companies don’t make decisions based on environmental sustainability alone. I suppose this creates a bigger question: Is the motive more important than the outcome?

Whatever the reason, I think we would all agree that this is a good move by a big company that has the power to change the entire market. Looks like Jason Clay’s TED talk was bang on.

Original article: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/proctor-gamble-remove-phosphates-laundry-soap

There was an article published by Bloomberg yesterday, January 23rd, that said that California would potentially become the first U.S. state to ban use of plastic bags:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-24/california-lawmakers-poised-for-new-plastic-bag-assault.html

I thought this was a really interesting article, for a couple of reasons. First, it makes me realize how quickly things can change. I remember being a child and going to the grocery store with my mom, and everything we bought was automatically placed in plastic bags. No one ever offered an alternative, such as paper bags, and as far as I know, none of the customers thought to ask.  Fast forward 10 or 15 years, and suddenly everything that seemed so normal not so long ago, is no longer okay. We talked about this in class briefly – about how the shift towards reusable bags started with a small group of people trying to change the actions of an entire society. I think it’s really impressive how far things have come, in a relatively short period of time

The second reason that the article is of interest is that my group is working on the project to promote water sustainability in the city of Vancouver. This project feels very similar to the plastic grocery bag problem, because we’re trying to change the way a group of people think about their water supply. Initially, this feels like a daunting mission. But somehow, after hearing that an entire U.S. state is considering banning plastic bags, it seems that over time, it is not impossible to change the way a society thinks.

Lastly, this article raises the point that some people feel this initiative is simply a cash grab. The quote in the article is: “It’s yet another job-killing, big-grocer cash-grab masquerading as an environmental bill.” I think this type of reaction occurs quite frequently when it comes to green initiatives; no one wants to pay more money  – especially for paper bags when they’ve become so used to free plastic bags. I know it’s tough to change, especially when some habits are so ingrained, but I think this type of behavioral change is a good thing. For me personally, I’m happy to take my reusable bags to the store. Especially if the alternative is seeing my discarded plastic bags washing up on Kits beach. Yuck.