We have talked (in previous blogs) about activities that can reduce energy usage. And there is a link between Green House Gases (and the associated carbon). When we reduce the energy usage, we concequently reduce the Green House Gases & the carbon. Companies can use this fact.
A growing segment of customers favor companies that can credibly demonstrate reduction of carbon impact. Although not every company can get customers to pay a premium for “Green” products, by having this information display could influence the consumer to choose the product with the lowest carbon footprint. The majority of efforts in this type of differentiation are currently targeted at the end consumer; it is easy to predict that this type of differentiation will become more important throughout the supply chain as manufactures strive to create products with the lowest total carbon impact.
Tesco, for example will become the first supermarket chain in the world to assign a "carbon label" to every product on its shelves, in an effort to attract ever more environmentally conscious consumers. The UK's biggest chain said the labels would record the amount of carbon dioxide emitted during the production, transport and consumption of the 70,000 products it sells.·
- Source: The Financial Times Limited: Elizabeth Rigby, Fiona Harvey and Ed Crooks Published: January 19 2007
Even governments are starting to look at carbon labeling on products. A bill has been introduced in California to provide Californians with the information necessary to voluntarily reduce global warming pollution through consumer purchasing power. “The Carbon Labeling Act of 2008” (AB 2538) will create a standardized labeling program of the total greenhouse gases created in harvesting, manufacturing, distributing, and selling of consumer products sold in California. Under the proposal, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) will establish a methodology and formula for assessing and labeling a product’s carbon content, but participation is voluntary. The intent is to make assessing the carbon content of product as easy as assessing its price. ·
- Source: California Progress Report – March 11, 2008
