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A Focus On Food Waste Is Good For Business

If you’re a business who deals with food at just about any level — even if it’s just leftovers from the office lunch room — how to best manage food waste is probably at least edging onto your radar. For organizations in the hospitality, food service, or food & beverage manufacturing industries that have committed to a sustainability agenda, food waste is certainly moving front and center. Here’s what your business can do to better manage food waste.

Strategies for Greening Your Supply Chain

In today’s highly competitive environment, businesses are increasingly focused on balancing profit and quality customer service with a commitment to being sustainable and fostering environmentally responsible operations. One key component of this goal is devising specific strategies for greening supply chains. After all, supply chains often contribute about three-quarters of most companies’ greenhouse gas emissions footprint and have many other environmental impacts.

Scott Bowman, PE, LEED AP, Selected As 2014 LEED Fellow

Scott Bowman, PE, LEED AP, and TMS Sustainability Circle coach, has been named a 2014 LEED Fellow by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). This year’s 48 Fellows are recognized for their exceptional contributions to the green building community as well as for their significant achievements among LEED Professionals.

Why Behavior Change Matters

For 10 years I directed the StopWaste Business Partnership which operates in the East San Francisco Bay Area. More often than not, an employee would contact us to diagnose their company’s situation and to set up a waste reduction and recycling program. But when the “champion” left the company, the successful efforts frequently fell apart.

The Unintended Consequences of Good Sustainability Intentions

For many years, I have had to opportunity to work with school districts on a variety of waste reduction and recycling projects. Together, we have calculated the cost of purchasing recycled-content paper, figured out cost saving by using a chipper to process tree trimmings and how to set up classroom and cafeteria recycling/food scrap collection programs. School districts are creative and innovative institutions but can also implement projects that create unintended consequences.

San Diego Sustainability Circle Successes: Moving from Plans to Reality

In November, 2013, seven San Diego-area companies embarked on a six-month journey of sustainability learning, interaction and idea generation. Together, these seven participants generated 176 sustainability initiatives or an average of 25 per company and a combined total of $3.5 million in projected annual savings. Here’s a look at what four of the participants have achieved toward these goals.