background preloader

Eco households

Facebook Twitter

Walmart, Nike, Gap Create Apparel Index. Nike, Target, JC Penney and Levi’s are among the nearly 30 manufacturers and retailers that have created an industry-wide index to evaluate apparel products’ environmental impact.

Walmart, Nike, Gap Create Apparel Index

The Sustainable Apparel Coalition, launched today, also includes non-profits, academics and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It aims to reduce the environmental and social impacts of apparel and footwear products sold around the world. Coalition members have already drawn up Version 1.0 of their Apparel Index, with beta testing by members and their suppliers due to begin in April. Later in 2011, they plan to expand the index to cover footwear.

The Apparel Index will not be a consumer-facing rating in the short term, because of the complexity of calculating a single numeric score, the coalition said. Marketing an Energy-Efficient Product as ‘Money Saving’ Just Doesn’t Work – Here’s Why. Our latest national survey had an intriguing finding: More Americans are doing the right things — buying energy-efficient appliances, installing insulation, replacing their light bulbs with CFLs and adjusting their thermostats.

Marketing an Energy-Efficient Product as ‘Money Saving’ Just Doesn’t Work – Here’s Why

Yet their utility bills are still on the rise. What gives? The poll, our sixth annual Energy Pulse survey, found 77 percent of homeowners say they’ve replaced their incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient CFL or LED bulbs. In addition, about half say they’ve replaced their windows with more energy-efficient models, and similar numbers report having replaced their HVAC or furnace, added insulation and replaced appliances with higher-efficiency units.

Eco furniture

Biking. Veggie food.