Search

This article is part of a series on “The ROI of Sustainability,” written with the support of MeterHero. MeterHero helps companies and organizations offset their water and energy footprints through consumer engagement. To follow along with the rest of the series, click here.

By McGee Young

These are good times for sustainability initiatives. Cost-saving returns on investment grab the attention of budget hawks. Marketing teams love to tell sustainability stories. CEOs can now hold their heads a bit higher at Davos, COP and Aspen when asked how they are addressing climate change.

But will this boom turn to bust? If so, should you worry about how to defend your sustainability programs the next time costs have to be cut. When the ROI is harder to calculate, when consumers have less discretionary income, when the CEO retires, how do you make the case to continue your good work?

Taking a page from Silicon Valley, sustainability professionals should focus on creating increasing returns with their programs. That is, for each additional unit of input there is a correspondingly larger increase in output or value.

For example, think about social networks. Each additional person who joins the network makes the experience better for everyone else (except maybe your distant relatives who comment on your Facebook posts). In a previous generation, the spread of telephones had a similar effect. Each person who gained access to a telephone made the technology more valuable for existing users.

By focusing on programs that generate increasing returns for your organization, you can buffer sustainability against the inevitable questioning and second-guessing of its ROI.

Here are four tips that can help you sustain your sustainability programs even in the face of downsizing, reorganization and cost-cutting crusades.

1. Integration

Sustainability programs are more durable the more integrated they are into the fundamental production of value in your organization. There is often an inverse relationship between the startup costs of a sustainability initiative and its stickiness. A more fully integrated sustainability program is more difficult to get started, but high up-front costs work to its advantage in the long run. A program that takes years to set up, integrates with software and other systems, and requires more resources to establish is more difficult to cut.

2. Network effects

Most companies design products that work well for a specific customer. But when a company can create an ecosystem, where each additional customer brings value to existing customers, magical growth happens. Remember when Instagram launched? If you were one of the few customers using the early version of Instagram, you would have found it useful – for your own purposes. Once it became a photo-sharing app, each additional user made the experience better for existing users. It’s great to look at your own pictures through sepia tones, but it’s even more fun to look at your friends’ pictures.

Sustainability programs that create network effects survive because the value of the program far exceeds the cost of setting it up. Employee engagement initiatives are the best example of network effects improving sustainability ROI. For example, MeterHero’s water and energy conservation employee engagement programs allow employees to compete against each other to save water and energy at home and earn cash for their savings. The more employees that participate, the more value is created for participants and the more value returned to the company.

3. Learning effects

Look down at your keyboard. Do you know why the keys are arranged the way they are? Because your great-great-aunt learned how to type on this keyboard layout. Once a critical mass of typists learned how to type on the QWERTY keyboard, no further changes were possible. Have you ever tried to type on a European keyboard? It’s impossible not to hunt and peck!

If your sustainability programs create valuable skills by virtue of participation, others will want to participate in your programs to acquire these skills. If these skills are in turn valuable for your company, your program is unlikely to be cut. Does your sustainability program teach water and energy literacy? Can your employees tell you the difference between a CCF and an acre-foot of water? If you can show a difference in the innovation and productivity of sustainability program participants versus others in the company, your program will thrive.

4. Inevitability

Psychology plays an important role in the sustainability of sustainability. People conform their behavior to match the expectations of their environment. If you can build your company identity around sustainability, you’ll have more ammunition to fight against retrenchment. If you are really effective, you’ll help carve a niche for your company as the brand leader for sustainability in its sector.

Today’s consumers are increasingly fickle in their sustainability expectations. While they are passionate about ecological issues, they often make choices based on low-information impressions of corporate behavior rather than measured assessment of sustainability programs. For this reason, the story that you tell is as important as the actions you take. Your customers must be able to take for granted that you are the sustainability leader in your sector. Once you achieve that position, your programs will be more resilient because your customers will demand nothing less.

With climate change appearing to become more dire by the day, and water scarcity a fact of life for most of the world now, sustainability programs should see their status elevated in most companies. But shareholder expectations and pressures to increase profits often pit sustainability against the bottom line. By focusing on programs that provide increasing returns to the company, sustainability professionals can help achieve triple-bottom-line results – profits, planet, and people.

Image credit: Flickr/GotCredit

McGee Young is founder and CEO of MeterHero, a water and energy conservation platform. MeterHero allows companies to fund conservation rebates that consumers earn as they reduce their water and energy consumption.  McGee was a winner of the Midwest Social Innovation Prize, a finalist in the Clean Energy Challenge, and his company was selected for the charter class of startups in the Global Freshwater Seed Accelerator. Prior to MeterHero, McGee founded H2Oscore, while also serving as an Associate Professor of Political Science at Marquette University. He is the author of “Developing Interests: Organizational Change and the Politics of Advocacy.”

For years the United Arab Emirates had the lowest automobile fuel prices in the world. Thanks to the government’s long-standing policy of subsidizing gasoline (petrol) and diesel, current average gasoline prices are less than 1.7 dirhams (50 cents) a liter. Considering the average price worldwide is about $1.21 a liter ($4.60 per gallon), driving the 87 miles (140 km) between the city centers of Abu Dhabi and Dubai is a bargain at the pump.

But the bargain for the UAE’s citizens and expats comes with a huge price. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that petroleum subsidies cost the UAE’s government about $7 billion a year, with all energy subsidies totalling $29 billion annually — almost 7 percent of the country’s GDP. Intergovernmental organizations including the IMF and World Bank have long called on countries in the Middle East to end subsidies for fuel and food, largely because of economic (and recently, environmental) arguments. Some of the reasons behind subsidies are cultural, as countries’ rulers within the region view subsidies as a way to share their wealth and to protect the poor.

But as of August 1, automobile fuel prices will no longer be subsidized, and the Ministry of Energy each month will set the cost of gasoline and diesel largely based on the prices reflected in global markets.

The result could be a society that rethinks its relationship with the car. Currently the UAE is a society heavily reliant on the automobile for transportation. Dubai has an impressive metro system, but large swaths of the nation’s largest city have little access to public transportation. Getting around Abu Dhabi is almost impossible without a set of wheels. And those wheels are big — the largest SUV each automaker sells on the market are the dominant cars one sees on the roads. Meanwhile, except for the country’s beaches and sidewalks along city waterfronts, most of the UAE is largely unfriendly to pedestrians and bicyclists.

So, for a country that covets a leadership role in the global debate over climate change, this announcement signals the UAE is taking sustainable development more seriously. Abu Dhabi hosted a United Nations meeting last year in the run-up to COP20, and will host the biennial Ecocity World Summit this fall. The legacy of the founder of the UAE in part lies on his focus on environmental stewardship, and is largely behind increased efforts to conserve the country’s mangroves and endangered species. Abu Dhabi has also launched Masdar City, which the emirate promotes as a clean technology cluster that increasingly attracts more multinational companies and startups.

But ending fuel subsidies is a substantive policy that could change consumer behavior and nudge citizens to think more responsibly and sustainably. Most residents of the country drive down the street for a quick errand or leave their car’s engine on while running the air conditioning -- not because of the harsh summer weather, but because they can. To that end, many residents have expressed dismay over the announcement, fearing prices in the country for more goods and services will surge.

Nevertheless, with the price of oil cratering, such price increases will not create nearly as much shock as they would if oil was over $100 a barrel. And in the long run, more consumers will consider smaller cars (such as my Kia, the smallest car I could find) or even hybrids instead of the typical four-wheel drives. If the government next tackles fuel used for homes and businesses, nascent industries such as solar and smart home systems could find a potentially lucrative market here.

Of course, the decision to scrap subsidies was more economic than environmental. Without the subsidies, the UAE’s break-even petroleum price falls to $65 from $80, and the government’s budget deficit would also fall by 80 percent. But UAE residents will soon drive less, demand more public transportation and, in the future, builders will create developments far friendlier to those who eschew driving for walking. And for a country grappling with balancing sustainable development with economic growth, this week’s announcement is one that will pay many dividends in the long run.

Image credit: ADNOC

Garment factories in Myanmar, the Asian country formerly and perhaps better known as Burma, aren’t happy with the government’s proposal to institute the country’s first minimum wage — a measly $3.25 per day, equating to just 40 cents an hour. The big-time clothing companies these factories supply, like Gap and H&M, have yet to publicize where they stand on the suggested rate.

While $3.25 doesn’t sound like much of a victory for the Myanmar government, it’s still a 225 percent increase from the current starting pay nearing $1 a day. The Myanmar Garment Manufacturers Association isn’t pleased with the proposal, suggesting $2 a day would serve best for the workers and the companies struggling to stay in business.

For U.S. companies, Myanmar is an open door to cheap, yet reliable, clothes. When the country overcame decades of military dictatorship in 2011, President Barack Obama lifted sanctions restricting U.S. involvement in the country, thus allowing free trade for any American company to any Myanmar factory. Gap was the first to jump the bandwagon, publicly signing the deal on the circumvented idea that the increased workload “will play a key role in helping to fuel the economic prosperity of the country.”

The underlying problem remains that the workers, through buckets of sweat and countless injuries, remain empty-handed. Garment factory bosses have seemingly taken on the disputed “trickle-down approach” by denying reasonable wages. Job scarcity in the once war-torn country leaves the factory workers with little choice but to show up day-in and day-out.

Gap and H&M have maintained good public relations since relying on the Eastern world to develop their clothes -- openly committing themselves to improve working conditions, particularly forced labor and unfair overtime demands. Yet these companies that supposedly champion labor reform are suddenly unwilling to voice their opinions on the newly proposed minimum wage.

Business and Human Rights Resource Center researcher Irene Pietropaoli said Gap and H&M could easily influence the wage debate if need be. Burmese authorities are deeply committed to enticing foreign investment, so they’d almost undoubtedly oblige the opinion of such large-scale companies. Companies have next to no legal obligations to improve labor conditions, but profitable businesses would be smart to avoid standing up for unlivable wages.

As of now, it’s hard to compete with Myanmar’s affordability. Companies are increasingly licking their lips when looking at Myanmar as a prospective factory location. Stacked next to Eastern rivals, Myanmar is far and beyond the most appealing, cost-effective place to set up shop. Even with the proposed wage of $3.25 a day, or $65 a month, Myanmar would remain a heavy player in the garment-making industry.

Poor working conditions in Southeast Asia were spotlighted in 2013, when the Rana Plaza factory collapse killed more than 1,000 garment workers in Bangladesh. Although the area received national media attention, wages and way of life for workers in the region remained unsettled, even with powerhouse companies like Target and Walmart signing contracts with factories there.

Of the 172 countries documented by risk-analytics firm Verisk Maplecroft, only one had lower labor costs than Myanmar: Djibouti, on the Horn of Africa, a nation of around 900,000 people compared to Myanmar's 53.3 million. Outsourcing to Myanmar instead of neighboring Thailand saves Western manufacturers around $18 per worker per day because of the high — in relative terms, of course— wages Thailand workers receive.

Along with generally cheap labor per individual worker in Burma, health regulations haven’t been updated in the region since 1951. The country is still new, only existing without British control and military dictatorship for four years, so the standards are likely to increase year-in and year-out. But in the meantime, Myanmar seems to be the best place to outsource on a strict, surplus basis.

Myanmar officials are faced with the challenge of creating working standards for the country or minimizing costs to attract foreign businesses. Gap and H&M’s silence on the issue can’t last forever, and ultimately the companies’ reaction to the wage spike will speak louder than any press release statement. Only time will tell.

Image credit: Flickr/ILO in Asia and the Pacific

If you happened to overhear someone talking about the relative fertility of cities, you’d probably think they were talking about the birth rate, rather than how much food they can grow. But that perception might be about to change. It’s time to turn the page on what we once thought was necessary for farming, which is, among other things, open spaces and fertile fields.

While you were busy looking the other way, a new way of farming has, well, sprouted up -- as in, you might have to look up to see it.

In the city of Newark, New Jersey, a company known as Aero Farms has decided to build a new $30 million corporate headquarters in an abandoned steel mill, which will include a vertical farm. Goldman Sachs and Prudential Financial are partners in the project. When complete, the 69,000-square-foot facility will grow roughly 2 million pounds of baby greens and herbs, creating 78 new jobs in an area with an unemployment rate that is twice the national average. Aero Farms claims that its sustainable farming model, which uses no pesticides, grows 75 times more food per square foot and consumes 95 percent less water than traditional methods.

This facility will be the world’s largest indoor vertical farm. The crops will be grown in what are called “growing rooms,” which look like giant warehouse racks. The soil-free farm will utilize so-called “aeroponic farming,” where seeds are sprouted atop a cloth medium, fed by misters below and illuminated by proprietary LED lighting from above.

Aero Farms was established in 2004, in upstate New York. Its innovative, patented growing technology was developed by former Cornell Cooperative Extension director, Ed Harwood (now chief science officer). The company’s mission is to “build and operate responsible farms throughout the world enabling local production at scale to grow safe, nutritious and delicious food.”

The principals have won numerous awards including:

• 2010 and 2008 Technology Pioneer, World Economic Forum


• 2008 Time Magazine – Top 4 Enterprise for Leading Edge of the New Energy Frontier


• 2010 Finalist for Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award for NJ


• 2009 Best New Jersey CleanTech Company of the Year awarded by NJ Tech Council

With this classic case of disruptive innovation, the company eliminated the need for all of the classic requirements for farming: land, sun and water, and substituted completely controllable elements in their place. This opens the possibility of food being grown in places where it could never have been grown before. It will certainly be interesting to see if this model can succeed and if it can be replicated at other locations around the world.

Image courtesy of Aero Farms

The future of electricity in the U.S. of A is in renewables. Renewable energy accounted for almost 70 percent (69.5 percent) of new electricity generation in the U.S. during the first half of this year.

The recent report by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects found that wind accounted for almost 2,000 megawatts of new generating capacity. That is over half of all new capacity. Solar accounted for 549 MW, biomass 128 MW, geothermal steam 45 MW, and hydropower 21 MW.

Natural gas accounted for 1,173 MW of new generating capacity, and nuclear power did not account for any new capacity. Coal only accounted for 3 MW of new capacity. That means that the new capacity from renewable energy sources is 904 times greater than coal and more than double natural gas, as Ken Bossong from the Sun Day Campaign pointed out.

In June, wind accounted for 320 MW, biomass 95 MW and solar 62 MW, which means that renewables made up 97 percent of new capacity last month. Natural gas only accounted for 15 MW.

In the U.S. renewables now account for 17.27 percent of total installed operating generating capacity, and are greater than nuclear power and oil, Bossong wrote. For comparison, renewables accounted for 13 percent of U.S. electricity generation last year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

There is a huge potential for renewable energy in the U.S. A study by the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) found that renewable energy sources could provide 80 percent of U.S. electricity generation by 2050.

How does your state rank in renewable energy generation?

The site Energy.gov ranks the states by renewable capacity. A handful of states rank very high, with renewables accounting for 80 to 100 percent of electricity generation: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, South Dakota, Iowa, Delaware, Rhode Island and Maine.

Delaware, Rhode Island and Maine get most of their electricity generation from renewables. In Delaware, biomass accounts for the majority of electricity generation. In Maine, it’s hydropower and biomass, while Rhode Island is building the nation’s first offshore wind facility. The 6 MW wind farm is expected to come online in 2016.

Image credit: Flickr/Peter Heilmann

By Anum Yoon

If someone grew up in a first-world country, they're used to having water at their fingertips. Clean water is so easy to come by that we never worry about it. However, water isn't ever-flowing, and droughts are reaching more and more people, even within the U.S.

Even in this data-driven age, the general public often doesn't keep up with the news. If you poll random people on the street, will they know about the droughts in California? Does the average New Yorker even know about wildfire season in the Southwest region of the United States?

The lack of awareness – let alone knowledge – of the global water shortage is dangerous. Can anyone wake up American consumers to this growing problem? You bet, and corporations are at the heart of curbing the global water footprint.

Is your business one of them?

Open the corporate toolbox

A corporate toolbox contains more than a lawyer and a strong IT team. It also contains responsibility – to consumers to create trusted products and to the environment through sustainability. There are many reasons why a company should care about a water footprint.

To start with, a corporate water footprint is used to track how much fresh water by volume is used to create a product or service. If a single company uses too much water, it risks pollution, dry rivers and lakes, and even hurting the wildlife population. From a business perspective, it also means fines, community complaints and even possible relocation, if not shuttering, of the business.

A key way to impact conservation is through the three Rs: reduce, reuse and recycle, which is exactly what Adidas did. Adidas and Parley recently teamed up to make clothing and sneakers from recycled ocean waste. This symbiotic relationship provided both companies with solid PR, plus it benefits the entire world, which makes this a strong example of how corporations can reduce their global water footprint.

Plus, when companies champion causes, the public takes an interest.

Increase public awareness

While U.S. citizens rank among the lowest of people concerned over water shortages, that number is changing due to California's worsening droughts and fire seasons. What do you want your company associated with – a saving-the-world superhero or just another logo attached to one more website on the Internet? Which one do you think would get more notice?

Using your corporate social responsibility as a marketing tool benefits you, the cause and the general public. Don't look at this as one more environmental issue, but rather an issue that affects how your business functions. Donating lump-sums to the cause won't impress your consumers for very long. Instead, look to companies like Adidas that engages in long-term projects that keep it in the spotlight. It’s making the company a part of a global sustainability initiative, which in turn makes it a superstar to the public.

Be a proactive corporation

Are you ready to join the ranks of corporate water stewards? Start by getting a water footprint assessment, which includes an assessment of your company’s production as well as a geographic assessment. The advantage lies in your company's ability to strategize a proper response and target decreasing the water footprint.

Other companies that have taken this step include Coca-Cola and other food and beverage giants.

Still trying to decide if a water footprint assessment is right for your company? Just stop and remember how quickly public opinion shifts. The U.S. might be behind the rest of the world when it comes to water and sustainability, but as the Southwest drought worsens and more people are affected, it's safe to say that more people will be looking for industry leaders to take action. Those leading companies will be the ones that stay ahead in their industry.

Image credit: Pete R.

Anum Yoon is a writer who is passionate about personal finance and sustainability. She often looks for ways she can incorporate money management with environmental awareness. You can read her updates on Current on Currency.

By Darryl Lewis

Over 66 percent of all U.S. employers have begun to offer wellness programs to their employees. These programs address many aspects of wellness, including emotional, spiritual and physical health. However, you don’t have to be a huge corporation to implement a holistic wellness program. As a small business owner, you can easily establish your own holistic wellness program without destroying your budget with these ideas.

1. The quiet room

Let’s face it: The office is a very busy place, and sometimes busy can be synonymous with noisy. The constant sounds of phones ringing, fax machines beeping and printers printing can be a bit overwhelming to some employees. Choose a room in your office to be the “quiet room." This should be a small room that employees can reserve for working on extra difficult projects, or even just to take a couple of minutes for themselves to breathe and release some stress.

Many U.S. offices are also beginning to allow employees to use quiet rooms as a “prayer room.” A majority of U.S. employees identify as being religious and participate in various forms of prayer and meditation. Enabling your employees to practice these activities will help them feel spiritually and mentally rejuvenated -- increasing their overall productivity.

2. Bring your (inner) child to work day

Sure, businesses should be professional, but that doesn’t have to translate into being uptight all the time. Allow your employees to bring their inner child to work. Taken literally, this means let your employees play! You can even incorporate this into a team-building exercise by having employees challenge and motivate each other in fun and unique ways.

For example, one fun and unique way to let your employees play at work is to hold Lego building competitions. This encourages teamwork, creativity, problem-solving and even bonding in the workplace. You might want to designate a specific room or area for Lego building though, as it can easily become a bit messy and take up quite a bit of space.

3. Hydration oasis

Hydration is a very important part of your employee’s health that often goes overlooked. Being properly hydrated can help increase focus and balance, control appetite, and even improve your employees’ moods.

However, you don't have to promote healthier hydration habits by drinking water alone. In addition to the water cooler, stock your organization's fridge with fresh fruits, vegetables and yogurts. These foods contain high water percentages to keep your employees hydrated throughout the day. To save money, buy locally at a farmer's market or produce stand.  Take your hydration oasis to the next level by getting a blender or juicer from a flea market or thrift shop.

4. Bike rental program

To encourage your employees to bike to work more often, offer a bike rental program as part of your employee benefit package. Some busy cities such as Philadelphia, New York City and Los Angeles already offer bike rental programs to citizens, and they may be more than happy to extend a discount to your organization, especially if you can get enough employees to become involved.

There is also Zagster, an organization that works to design, build and operate bike-sharing programs for businesses across the country. If your business is on a very tight budget or is a startup with only a few employees, buy some bikes from the thrift store or flea markets.

5. Volunteerism

Serving others and the environment is a major component of holistic wellness. Set aside some time for you and your employees to devote to a positive cause. This can be as simple as participating in a local food drive or creating greeting cards for elderly residents at a nearby nursing home. Help improve your company’s sustainability efforts by planting a tree or starting a garden right outside of your office. Implementing a volunteer program is a great start to boosting your company's morale. Employees will feel more like a team, knowing that they're working together for an outcome greater than a paycheck or product.

Creating a holistic wellness program for your business doesn’t have to be stressful or expensive. When you choose any of these ideas, you’ll be able to improve the overall wellbeing of your employees while enhancing the company’s work culture.

Image credit: Pixabay/geralt 

Darryl Lewis is a digital marketing and a fine/performing arts enthusiast. His concern about social and environmental issues is unwavering, always seeking opportunities to create a positive impact on the people in his community and the world. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Marketing from Stockton University. Follow him on Twitter @dlew4life 

More than 40 tonnes of rubbish were removed from beaches by Marine Conservation Society (MCS) volunteers and Marks and Spencer (M&S) staff and customers during the Big Beach Clean-up in May. This covered 145km of beach and 3km of waterways, the greatest total distance covered by the clean-up since it began in 2012.

The Big Beach Clean-up was organised as part of the Forever Fish partnership which has seen MCS join forces with high street retailer M&S and the Canal & River Trust to help reduce plastic bag use and increase people’s understanding of the need to eat sustainable fish.

MCS Beachwatch Officer, Charlotte Coombes, said the items most commonly found were pieces of plastic, which topped the list of ten most frequently found items: “Plastic pieces, crisp and sweet wrappers, glass pieces, plastic bottles, anglers fishing line, plastic bags, paper, metal, wood and polystyrene. If MCS and its volunteers didn’t clean and survey our beaches, we would not be able to continue to pressurize the authorities into keeping marine and beach litter on the agenda. Our surveys reveal where the rubbish on our beaches come from. If we can stop the litter at source we can make beaches in the UK cleaner and safer places for wildlife and people.”
 

• New figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, show that the number of single-use plastic bags handed out by UK supermarkets has increased for the fifth year, rising to 8.5bn.From October large shops in England will have to charge for plastic bags. All retailers with 250 or more full-time equivalent employees will have to charge a minimum of 5p for the bags they provide for shopping in stores and for deliveries. A reduction in the number of plastic bags handed out by retailers was found in Scotland and Northern Ireland, where levies have been introduced.
   

Humane treatment of animals is a passionate topic in the U.S. -- or so we're told by the country's leading animal rights organizations. Defenders of Wildlife, Mercy for Animals, World Wildlife Fund and the Humane Society are just a few of the organizations that have gained prominence and voice in recent years, propelled by the increasing concern over the fate of animals, both in the wild and in captivity.

In the food sector, that concern is best captured in a 2014 American Humane Association survey, which stated that advocacy is rising: 95 percent of consumers surveyed stated they were very concerned about the humane treatment of animals, and 76 percent of respondents said they would allocate more of their food budget for meat that came from humanely raised animals. The survey was taken to show that the AHA's work, which includes certifying companies that treat farm animals humanely, had value and substance.

The significance of that tally came back to bite the AHA last month, however, when another animal rights organization released footage of employees at an AHA-certified processing plant abusing farm animals. 'Abusing' is perhaps far too gentle a term to use to describe the footage, but would presumably be sufficient for an organization that sees its mandate as "protecting children, pets and farm animals from abuse and neglect." But according to Mercy for Animals, the organization that revealed the abuse, neither Foster Farms, the owner of the plant, nor the American Humane Association came forward to say they would launch an investigation until the film clip actually went public. No statement has been issued on the AHA website addressing the incident.

Most of the attention concerning this scandal has been focused on Foster Farms, which has been under considerable consumer scrutiny for its earlier problems with antibiotic-resistant salmonella. When it comes to consumer confidence, accusations of animal abuse, especially to the degree detailed in the complaint, is an ill-timed follow-up to food sanitation problems.

The AHA might have missed most of the media attention if it hadn't been for venerable animal rights supporter Bob Barker, who is better known for his leading role in the television game show "The Price Is Right." At 91, he is still dolling out checks to animal rights organizations to the tune of millions of dollars. In Hollywood, Barker's scathing condemnation of the AHA found a willing audience and a well-appointed podium.

"I think they have failed miserably in their efforts to protect animals in the movie industry, and obviously they have failed miserably in any protection for animals in this food industry," Barker said in a press conference at the prestigious Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles.

For many animal welfare supporters in show business, Barker's statement underscores a key gripe that animals are not always as protected as the disclaimer in movie credits state. In 2013, the Hollywood Reporter released a feature investigation into a string of animal deaths and injuries that had occurred under the AHA's watch. The AHA has denied many of the incidents, and it has also denied the wrongful termination of its Studio City-based production director Barbara Casey after two horses died. But for some, the concern that animals are not as protected from injury or pain on the set as the tagline says, still remains a stigma. Last year, a new organization, Movie Animals Protected, opened its doors on AHA Hollywood turf, led by its former production director, Barbara Casey, who maintains the AHA had been warned about problems of abuse.

For poultry producers, Hollywood may be a long way from Fresno, California's packaging plants, but it's likely not far enough for Northwest consumers who want to know that the meat they eat comes from humanely treated animals. Being the biggest organic poultry producer in a region may not count much for Foster Farms if its customer base loses the willingness to buy its chicken. And as many of America's most successful early companies learned, the wealth of a client's investment in an organization is meaningless if consumers don't invest the same faith in the certified product.

Image of chickens: Loozrboy

Image of AHA truck: Trailersoftheeastcoast

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio took the first strides toward his goal to power all city government buildings and facilities with renewable energy within 10 years, asking the energy industry to help identify new sources of clean energy appropriate for the city. The call is likely to be followed by an official request for proposals this fall and potentially a signed contract in 2016.

While powering the city government may not sound like a tall task, the city operates more than 4,000 buildings and facilities. The plan will also cover all of NYC’s traffic lights and street lights. The city government coughs up a large chunk of change to keep these facilities running — between $600 million and $650 million annually. The 4 to 5 terawatt-hours of electricity spent each year on the buildings contribute around 3.2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, good for nearly 7.5 percent of the largest American city’s greenhouse gas emissions.

De Blasio’s plan could expand to include public housing projects too, which would affect more than 400,000 New Yorkers, Grist reports. This isn’t the first time de Blasio is taking a progressive stance for renewables. Back in September, he pledged to reduce the city’s greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent below 2005 levels by 2050. He also eyed cutting emissions from city government operations 35 percent by 2025, meaning the government buildings would have to rely more heavily on solar and wind power than the current coal power.

De Blasio, who assumed office on New Year’s of 2014, has largely followed the path that his predecessor Michael Bloomberg paved for him. Bloomberg has donated millions of dollars to sustain the rapid growth of clean energy. Along with being philanthropic to ensure purity of American energy, Bloomberg has also been a champion ambassador, representing and fighting for clean energy worldwide.

De Blasio’s resume for renewable energy may not be as shiny as Bloomberg’s, but the current mayor’s ambitious goal for renewable-powered government buildings could influence other major American cities to follow in the Big Apple’s footsteps.

New York City’s metropolitan area — including suburbs in four different states — is by far the most populous in the country with more than 23 million people. Amazingly, New York joins Idaho and Arkansas as the three states with the smallest ecological footprint. Improving renewable energy in the city that never sleeps could only illuminate the state’s success and make it the precedent for every state in the U.S.

Image credit: Flickr/Aurelien Guichard