Starbucks Receives Advice Regarding Sustainability and Its Coffee from the NGO Called Conservation International - Image from Google
Ever wonder why your Big Mac isn’t wrapped in Styrofoam or why Chiquita bananas are both yellow and “green?” You can thank NGOs, or non-governmental organizations, for that. Yes, government and politicians are heavily pushing green technology, and rightfully so – they have the money and power to make clean energy initiatives happen. But in the background are NGOs, which are citizen-based nonprofit associations that have the influence to further promote the power of being green to government bodies and to the public at large.
Here is a list of the top 10 NGOs – organizations that, in essence, are the ones driving the need for green developments from behind the scenes in addition to being front and center with their ideas.
1. Rocky Mountain Institute: This NGO collaborates with businesses that wish to be totally innovative in the energy efficiency realm, introducing never before visited ideas in the area of energy production, green buildings and green transportation. It also helped Wal-Mart to create a new design for its trucking system to save on gas and contributed to the development of HP’s data center, potentially the greenest on the globe. The NGO was created by Amory and Hunter Lovins.
2. The Nature Conservancy: This organization provides advice to businesses on how they can become greener, focusing on the specialty fields of land management, forestry and biodiversity. It even has worked with IBM and other companies to study data regarding the planet’s rivers and facilitated an agreement among NGOs and timber companies to safeguard a forest area in Canada.
3. Environmental Defense Fund: This NGO actually features a Climate Corps program that allows master of business administration students to go to big companies and seek out chances to make them more efficient. Also, remember when McDonald’s used foam-plastic sandwich boxes? Well, it was this organization that put that to an end.
4. Conservation International: This organization encourages businesses to make donations to causes such as the protection of forests as well as gives Starbucks advice on sustainability issues connected to their coffee. In addition, the NGO is helping Wal-Mart to monitor where its jewelry products come from, with a green focus.
5. Ceres: This NGO concentrates on major green issues in the sectors of electric power and oil and further helps companies such as Nike to push for green developments. It also created the Global Reporting Initiative to assist companies with reporting sustainability performance, much like the way they report their financials. That’s a very big deal in the green world, along with the fact that this NGO came up with top 20 green standards it says all businesses must meet by 2020.
6. Practice Greenhealth: This organization recognizes exceptional moves in health care to become greener. The NGO’s goal is to eradicate mercury, decrease energy and water consumption and promote recycling. Last year, the NGO launched tools to help hospitals to pinpoint, request and secure medical products that are more environmentally friendly and has published multiple annual sustainability benchmark reports.
7. Rainforest Alliance: This NGO is known for certifying the greenness of Chiquita’s farms as well as pushing for reforestation and a lower level of the use of chemicals. Outside of the banana industry, it also emphasizes sustainability in the areas of tourism along with tea, coffee and even chocolate production.
8. Green America: This organization aims to develop an environmentally sustainable society by taking advantage of collaboration from businesses, investors and consumers. Among the group’s goals is to decrease the price of solar power, help consumers to make intelligent green decisions when shopping, put a halt to sweatshops and promote fair trade.
9. EarthShare: This NGO strives to help companies to involve their employees in green technology goals as well as generate chances to volunteer. It represents environmental charities and since 1988 has been working to boost morale within businesses regarding making efforts to protect the planet.
10. Carbon Trust: This organization, developed by the government of the United Kingdom, was created to encourage more companies to participate in a low-carbon economy. For instance, it helped to create a product life cycle standard that companies such as Cadbury and PepsiCo tried out. Developing climate change strategies and providing complementary energy audits to businesses are among its green offerings.
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