Clorox, too green for environmental stewardship?
Tuesday, May 27th, 2008By Stefanie Olsen
Last week I met Suzanne Thompson, vice president of research in Clorox’s cleaning division and the material scientist who helped lead development of the company’s new line of plant-based cleaning products, Green Works. She and I shared lunch at an environmental conference, so I took the opportunity to ask her how sales were going and if the company plans to “green” other Clorox products, i.e., change formulations for non-biodegradable or synthetic goods.
No, she replied, in answer to the question of transforming existing Clorox products. Consumers need goods like bleach for home sterilization purposes, Thompson said. What’s more, she said, the demand on natural resources like Palm oil or coconut extracts used to make Green Works (which is formulated from 99 percent plant- or mineral- based ingredients) can cause shifts or shortages in food markets, much like we’re seeing with corn crops related to ethanol production.
It’s an interesting argument, one that surely holds some truth. But it’s also a typically cautious argument for a traditional consumer-package-goods company that’s in the cross hairs of a new environmental movement. (more…)
Egg shells, cucumber peels, fajita leftovers–they often don’t find their way into the recycling can because of the messiness and stink factor (if people even own a compost bin). In fact, food waste is the No. 1 least recycled material in the United States, according to the Environmental Protection Agency; and yet it and paper goods comprise the bulk of landfills. That waste, which can’t breakdown naturally for lack of oxygen in the landfill, adds to our global warming headaches because it produces more carbon than necessary.