Greenwala's Naughty and Nice Companies of 2009

Wondering which companies were naughty and who was nice this year?  Well he have your answer with our Naughty and Nice Companies of 2009 list.

Here is are some of the best and worst green companies of 2009.

Nice:

Samsung:

Samsung holds its position but dips down from 7.1 to 6.9 (Greenpeace rating), as a result of failing to extend its take-back program to non-OECD countries. Samsung scores relatively well on all the criteria. Since November 2007, all new models of LCD panels are PVC-free, important in driving the market to phase out PVC, with Samsung being the number one supplier globally. The company has launched partially BFR-free models of mobile phones and developed halogen-free memory chips and semiconductors for certain applications. It has also committed to eliminate phthalates and beryllium and compounds by the end of 2012 from all its products, not just from PCs, TVs and mobile phones.

Aveda:

Up to 100% of its packaging is made from recycled materials.

To legions of women, the mere mention of Aveda conjures up visions of showering in a lush rain forest, right in their very own bathroom. We have the natural-beauty innovator to thank for introducing us to more than 600 plant-based ingredients, including morikue and babassu oil, when other manufacturers were slavishly devoted to using man-made chemicals. Since 1999, the company has raised $8 million for environmental causes by hosting Earth Month activities in April, during which many salons donate the fee for their services to conservation organizations here and abroad.

But every aspect of Aveda's business is green. By investing in indigenous communities, funding wildlife preservation and supporting the work of grassroots environmentalists, the company has had a massive impact on protecting global ecosystems. Nearly 80% of the essential oils used in its products are organic, and up to 100% of its packaging is made from recycled materials. Any electricity used at its Blaine, MN, manufacturing facility is offset by the firm's purchase of wind power, while all spas, stores and salons run by the company are built according to green construction principles. In Sanskrit, Aveda means "all knowledge." When it comes to knowing about nature, this company lives up to its name.

Herman Miller: 

It's the largest user of renewable energy in the design industry.

People who step into Herman Miller's 15,172-square-foot Atlanta Design Center are amazed by its natural beauty. Flooded with daylight, outfitted with sleek, energy-efficient appliances and run on sustainable power, it shines as an example of what can happen when creative ingenuity meets eco-consciousness. But then, this company helped write the rules of green design.

In 1995, Herman Miller helped found the Green Building Council, the organization that grants the coveted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification to businesses that build facilities according to sustainable principles. One of Herman Miller's own plants, the GreenHouse, even helped develop those guidelines. Today, ten of its company buildings are LEED-certified, out of 1,004 in the world.

As the company's eco-watchdogs, the 400-plus employees on Herman Miller's Environmental Quality Action team pore over every green detail. Their employer is already the largest user of renewable energy in its industry, but this team has bigger dreams: By 2020, it aims to eliminate hazardous waste, toxic emissions and landfill use at all sites. It's off to a good start, too: Six facilities already run on renewable wind power and landfill gas.

All Herman Miller products are traced from "cradle to cradle," evaluated at every step for safe content and recycla-bility. If toxins are found, the firm's Blue Marble team tries to remove them. No wonder the company is often called one of America's most admired. 

Discovery Channel:

It’s ponied up $50 million for original green TV programming
   
As the company behind TV's Animal Planet and Discovery Channel hits like Planet Earth, it's not surprising that this media company has a penchant for green causes. Still, it made the whole communications industry sit up and take notice recently when it announced the mid-2008 launch of a new TV channel devoted to coverage of environmental issues—one that would be shown in 50 million U.S. homes.

But at Discovery Communications, it's not only the programming that's green. The firm has also compensated for 100% of the carbon dioxide emissions produced by its Silver Spring, MD, headquarters (which boasts energy-efficient lighting, bamboo floors and water-conserving faucets and toilets) by making an equal contribution to funding environmental projects.

The company's commitment to what it calls the Planet-Green initiative is part of its plan to cast itself as the world's "most comprehensive and trusted global resource for celebrating, preserving and protecting the planet." Guided by an advisory board of leading eco-researchers and scientists, it will soon host an annual conference devoted to environ-mental innovation. And while its new channel features the stylish side of eco—shows on design, architecture and organic food—the company has committed $50 million to creating green programming on all 14 of its channels. First up: the Discovery Channel series Ten Ways to Save the Planet. We think this is a pretty good start.

Ben and Jerry's:

One of the most well known ice cream brands in the world, Ben and Jerry's has been one of the early market leaders to be green. Teaming up with GE, Ben and Jerry's has created Green Freezers that take advantage of the way hydrocarbon gases absorb heat when they change from a liquid to a gas and are testing the freezers in Boston and Washington.

Addtionally, Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream packaging is produced with FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) paper helping them to reduce 1,000 tons of waste per year.

Plus, how many corporations can claim that apart of their corporate product mission that it  has an emphasis on respectng the Environment and the Earth?

Naughty:

Exxon Mobile:

The Exxon-Valdez oil spill is by far ExxonMobil’s most well-known environmental offense, but it’s certainly not the only one. The oil giant was ranked sixth on the Toxic 100 list of US corporate air polluters, and has been accused by Greenpeace of sabotaging efforts to deal with climate change, manipulating peer-reviewed studies and misleading the public with junk science. Indeed, though they have since cut off funding, ExxonMobil once financially supported a number of global warming denial organizations.

Though ExxonMobil trumpeted its investment in renewable energy sources in a series of advertisements over the past few years, the fact is that the company has invested just $300 million in renewable energy sources over the next 10 years compared to the $47 billion they spent between 2003 and 2006 alone on dirty energy sources like oil and gas.

In 2001, ExxonMobil was the target of a lawsuit by a human rights group that accused the company of actively abetting human rights abuses including torture, rape and killings in Indonesia. The suit alleged that ExxonMobil had hired a local army to protect its natural gas fields in the Aceh province, providing them with equipment to dig mass graves as well as building interrogation and torture centers. The company denied all of the charges, but a motion it filed to have the case dismissed was denied in 2006. The case is still pending. (Source:  Earth First)

Monsanto:

Despite the inroads that Dow Chemical has been making lately on the evil corporation front, Monsanto still reigns supreme. It’s hard to overstate just how socially and environmentally irresponsible this company really is. Monsanto has manufactured herbicides (which, during manufacturing, create dioxin as a by-product), Agent Orange, plastics, fuel additives, saccharin, industrial fluids, fertilizers, pesticides and anti-freeze in the past. Some years ago they chose to focus on ‘life sciences’ and are now the world’s largest seed company. They’re also the creators of Recombitant Bovine Growth Hormone (rGBH) and the world’s largest producer of genetically modified food.

Monsanto is responsible for more than 50 Superfund sites including Anniston, Alabama, one of America’s worst man-made environmental disasters. For over 40 years, Monsanto routinely dumped toxic waste into West Anniston Creek while producing now-banned industrial coolants called PCBs. They also dumped millions of pounds of PCBs into open-pit landfills – and proceeded to spend decades covering it up even after confirming that fish submerged in the creek turned belly-up within seconds.

Monsanto knew exactly how dangerous the PCBs were, but chose to keep it secret, altering documents and forcing changes to study results to keep the secret. Though they were forced to pay $700 million in fines in 2003, they have not apologized or taken responsibility.

On top of that, after polluting waterways all over the world, Monsanto proceeded to buy up said waterways, filter the water and sell it back to the public, making a double profit.

Among Monsanto’s worst acts is its attempt to completely monopolize the world’s seed supply. The company has spent over $8 billion in recent years buying up seed companies – including organic seed companies – and making it illegal for farmers to retain the seeds from their crop for the following year’s planting. That means farmers are forced to pay Monsanto for new seeds, again and again. Many of Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds produce plants that are reportedly dependent upon Monsanto herbicides, pesticides and fertilizers.

The people paying the biggest price for Monsanto’s greed are Indian farmers. Every day, at least three of them commit suicide by hanging themselves, drowning themselves in rivers or drinking Monsanto pesticides because they’ve hit rock bottom in desperation, hopelessness and debt. The death toll stands at thousands, with some estimates at over 16,000. The farmers had been promised unprecedented harvests and income if they switched to genetically modified Monsanto seeds in what was basically one big experiment on unwitting subjects. When the crops failed, the farmers felt they had no way out, and they certainly didn’t have money to buy more seeds.

Now, it’s been reported that Monsanto has found a way to profit from its own misdeeds once again. In the Southeast, a “superweed” known as Palmer amaranth pigweed is taking over soybean and cotton fields, often leaving them totally unfit for future cultivation. This particular strain of weed was created thanks to overuse of Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide and the attendant use of its patented Roundup-resistant GMOs. So, what will it take to wipe out this superweed? You guessed it – more Monsanto herbicides. (Source:  Earth First)

Nintendo:

Nintendo has improved it's ways with the energy efficiency of its low power AC adapter for the Nintendo DSi that meets the requirements on the external power supply in the Energy Star Program. On other energy criteria it loses a point due to a second year of increases in greenhouse gas emissions, despite a commitment to cut CO2 emissions and other greenhouse gases by 2 percent over each previous year. Emissions in 2007 increased by 1.5 percent compared to 2006, following a rise of 6 percent in 2006. Nintendo retains a point on energy for disclosing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from its own operations. (Source:  Greenpeace)

Pfizer:

Air and water pollution, disregard for safety standards and experimentation on Nigerian children: these are just a few of the environmental and human rights offenses perpetrated by the world’s largest pharmaceutical company. It’s hard to imagine how Pfizer officials can bear to look at themselves in the mirror every day after what they’ve done.

Pfizer is guilty of some of the most despicable price gouging in corporate history: it keeps its HIV/AIDS-related drugs out of the hands of the world’s poor, who need them the most. Pfizer has aggressively fought efforts to make these drugs more affordable, refusing to grant generic licenses for HIV/AIDS drugs to Brazil, South Africa and other countries in need of them.

In June 2008, Pfizer was forced to pay a $975,000 fine for violating the Clean Air Act at one of its manufacturing plants in Groton, Connecticut – a drop in the bucket for a company that makes upwards of $50 billion in profits every year. The Pfizer plant was emitting methanol, hydrogen chloride, methylene chloride, MTBE, hexane, toluene and other chemicals classified by the EPA as hazardous air pollutants. Pfizer had previously paid $430 million in 2004 to settle a large number of outstanding asbestos lawsuits from its acquisition of Quigley Company in 1968, which had sold contaminated insulation.

Worst of all, the company that has little regard for safety standards – having released a number of drugs that ended up being pulled off the market for unforeseen complications – decided to test one of its drugs on poor, critically ill Nigerian children. Masking the trial as a “humanitarian mission”, Pfizer tested an experimental antibiotic called Trovan on meningitis-infected Nigerian children without their knowledge or the knowledge of their families. 11 children died, and others developed brain damage and crippling arthritis. (Source:  Earth First)

Lenovo:

Lenovo has backtracked on its commitment to eliminate PVC and brominated flame retardants (BFRs) in all its products by the end of 2009.

Lenovo's new timeline for meeting this commitment of end of 2010 is to be dropped and there is no new timeline. No timeline means no commitment.On the toxic chemical criteria, although Lenovo has put on the market a monitor largely free of brominated flame retardants and PVC vinyl plastic, this one model (in two sizes) is insufficient to score a point. It is rewarded for committing to the phase out of beryllium (including alloys and compounds) and antimony and its compounds by 2012, but phthalates are still only reportable substances.

Sources:  Project Label, Newsweek, Terra Choice, Greenwashing Index and Greenwala user posts