Kerfuffle

How 'green' is your product when it has to be shipped hundreds and hundreds of miles? Stoneyfield Farm's environmental claims seem to be at odds with it's own marketing strategy

I like Stonyfield Farm yogurt. It's much better than the mass-market stuff like Yoplait and Dannon, let alone store-brand wannabees.  No fake stuff, no high-fructose corn syrup.  No mystery fruit.  Even more so, I like that the company seems to take a very serious approach to environmental issues.

From their website...

We got our start as an organic farming school, which means we’ve been caring for the planet for longer than we’ve been making yogurt. Today, our organic ingredient purchases help to keep over 100,000 farm acres free of toxic, persistent pesticides and chemical fertilizers known to contaminate soil, rivers, and drinking water.

To help reduce global warming, we offset all of the C02 emissions from our facility energy use. We also started a nonprofit called “Climate Counts” which shows people how they can help fight climate change by the way they shop and invest.

With a solar array on the roof of our Yogurt Works, we generate some of the clean renewable energy we use to make our yogurt. Through reuse and recycling, we prevent hundreds of tons of waste from reaching landfills and incinerators each year. And we give 10% of our profits to efforts that help protect and restore the earth.

They so strongly profess a love of green corporate citizenship that the company CEO wrote a book about it. 

Here's the thing, though:  They talk about CO2 offsets and how they work to help people fight climate change by the way they shop.  Well, Stonyfield is located in New Hampshire, which is about 1100 miles from where I live near Madison.  Meanwhile, there are local dairies here in Wisconsin (perhaps you've heard that we are America's Dairy-land).  If I follow Stonyfiled's logic and instruction, I should be buying locally produced products, or at least those products that come the shortest distance.  Stonyfield's whole approach to green marketing suggests that I not buy their products.

So I stopped buying Stonyfield yogurt. 

But, to be totally honest, I didn't actually drop them for green reasons.  Now I buy Cascade Fresh yogurt, which is also all-natural and is actually even better than Stonyfield.  It does come from Washington, so it takes almost twice the energy resources in terms of fuel to get here.  But it is sooo good, not to mention being about 70% the cost of Stonyfield.  And unlike Stonyfield, which is part of global conglomerate Groupe Danone, Cascade Fresh is an independent company that seems to take a more honest marketing position.

Did I mention I drive a hybrid car?  That's my offset for buying products that come with excessive energy costs for my satisfaction.  Uh huh.  About as sincere as Stonyfield.

It really says something when the Chinese government objects to the takeover of Hummer by a Chinese company for environmental reasons

I've always thought Hummers were a prime example of what happens when the confluence of American consumerism and testosterone imbalance goes horribly wrong.  Aside from being proof that money can't buy taste, the damn things are emblematic of many Americans' complete disregard of our own energy situation, ignorance of global warming, and Detroit's too-cozy-for-too-long relationship with Big Oil.

To prove how bad these things are for the environment, China (China who is our rival for pollution and energy consumption) is moving to block the acquisition of the Hummer brand by a Chinese company.

[BBC] A Chinese firm's bid to buy the gas-guzzling Hummer car brand will be blocked on environmental grounds, according to Chinese state radio.

Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery emerged as the surprise buyer for the brand earlier this year.  But China National Radio said Hummer is at odds with the country's planning agency's attempts to decrease pollution from Chinese manufacturers.

But Sichuan Tengzhong disputed the accuracy of the radio report.  "The fact that it is from an article from a state media organization does not mean it is government policy," the company said in a statement.  "Some people may have views and speculation, but the Chinese government has a process that we respect."

The acquisition from General Motors needs Chinese regulatory approval.

One more reason for people who drive these things to be proud:  the Chinese are rejecting them.

So nice to have the green back for the season

View from our deck looking out over the oak savana in Cam-Rock Park.

[posted via iPhone]

Al Gore takes down Congress-hack Blackburn on Cap and Trade investments

Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-some TN backwater district) got to experience first-hand what it's like to be totally out of one's league.  She decided she would try a game of gotcha with Al Gore, armed with an article she clipped from the New York Times magazine.  Gore was testifying before a House committee regarding pending environmental legislation. Too bad she didn't do any more homework to understand what most people know... that Gore donates all the profits from his ecological endeavors to the cause... the Alliance for Climate Protection.

I love how, early on, Gore sees where this is going and starts to laugh at her.  Eventually, so does the gallery.  What a tool.  Tennessee: 

You guys can do better that this asshat.  Way better.

[h/t TPM]