Climate Counts
www.climatecounts.org

Based in Manchester, New Hampshire, Climate Counts released its first Climate Counts Company Scorecard in July 2007. The scorecard graded brands on a point scale of 0 (being the worst) to 100, based on 22 environmental criteria.

So what benchmarks are the scores based on? For starters, a brand's climate "footprint" is measured. Then, companies are judged on the work they do to reduce their contributions to global warming. Additionally, companies are evaluated according to their support for progressive climate initiatives.

In the first year of the scorecard, 18 of the 56 companies earned dismal scores—only 12 points or less. Climate Counts adds four more companies to the mix when it publicly releases its next scorecard on May 7, 2008. This time, will the group of brands scoring 12 or less points increase or decrease in size?

“That group is smaller this time,” said Wood Turner, project director of Climate Counts. “Some have even seen double-digit leaps in scores.”

In addition to number scores, Climate Counts also places brands in one of three categories—stuck, starting, and striving. "Striving" brands include Nike with a score of 73; Unilever 71; Stonyfield Farm 63; General Electric 61; Starbucks 46; and Canon 77.

“Starting” brands include consumer products giant Procter & Gamble with a score of 53. As for "Stuck" brands, Levi Strauss earned a measly 1 point out of 100.

“We’re not scoring the greenest brands in the world,” Turner noted, explaining the mission driving the organization. “If the world’s largest companies decrease their footprint by a little bit, that has a huge impact because these are the companies that need to change,” he said.

That’s not to say changing corporate behavior is the only motivation for Climate Counts. Empowering consumers is also a priority. The site offers visitors a downloadable scorecard to print out and bring on their next shopping trip.

“These companies can greenwash or lie about their actions to their peril as more engaged consumers take a closer look at what they are doing,” Turner said.

Indeed, Climate Counts makes it easier for consumers to do just that. For instance, if a consumer is upset with the Gap Inc.’s score of 39, they can send a previously written e-mail to the Gap that reads, in part, “Global climate change is one of the most important issues we currently face, and I believe the world's companies have a responsibility to take a real leadership role in fighting it." Consumers can also text the name of a company to 30644 to get climate scores before even buying one of its products.

“Lots of office supply companies claim to be 'green.' The Truth is a Little More Black and White,” read the full-page ad placed by Forest Ethics that ran in USA Today on March 31, 2008. The ad went on to mildly praise FedEx Kinko’s and Staples for “making significant progress in their paper purchasing,” based on its annual “Report Card” of the industry’s major companies.

Corporate Express earned a C+; FedEx Kinko’s a B+; Office Depot a B-; Office Max a D+; and Staples a B+. Forest Ethics also mentioned that OfficeMax has been “doing the least to back up its green spin with concrete action.”

The “Green Grades” report card rates companies on five categories: post-consumer recycled content; sustainable forest management; endangered forest protection; the establishment of a chain-of-custody to determine origin of paper products; and prohibiting the conversion of native forests into tree farms or other non-forest land uses.

Founded in 1994, Forest Ethics is a nonprofit environmental group whose mission is to protect endangered forests. The group is known for using public relations and media tactics to put pressure on companies to change practices. For example, the ad referenced above ran in USA Today’s New York City edition during “Paper Week,” when paper industry executives were attending the American Forest & Paper Association’s annual meeting. The group has managed to push for changes in the business practices of major players. For instance, last fall, Staples committed to shifting the majority of the paper it sells to sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council by 2010.

In Conclusion
The eco-movement has come a long way, but also has a long way to go. While consumers want their favorite brands to do the right thing, they also want their favorite brands to do the right thing, for the right reasons—and to be honest about it. Until then, regulation and fair systems of evaluation are needed to accurately assess going "green" claims and enforce accountability.

Perhaps, in 2009, brandchannel readers will communicate a more encouraging response to the brandjunkie survey question that asked for the name of a brand that they believed was truly going "green." What was this year's overwhelming number one answer?

None.     

[28-Apr-2008]