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Excerpt from this story from Grist:

Wealthy investors and asset managers wield a lot of power over the major companies whose stock they own or control. Every year, shareholder advocacy groups hope to exert that power for good by filing shareholder resolutions — 500-word proposals that might ask companies to voluntarily reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, or to disclose more information on their resource use. 

Shareholders typically vote on resolutions between April and June during a period known as “proxy season,” named after the proxy statements that companies distribute to investors ahead of their annual shareholder meetings. These votes aren’t binding, but they can influence companies’ decisions and generate press around a particular issue.

This year, activist investors are notching wins even before the beginning of proxy season. Shareholder advocacy groups have already extracted a handful of plastics-related concessions from major companies — including the entertainment behemoth Disney, the food processing giant Hormel, and Choice Hotels, one of the largest hotel chains in the world. The companies’ new commitments include reporting on and reducing the amount of plastics they use in their packaging, as well as more closely monitoring hazardous plastic additives.

Activist investment firms like Green Century Capital Management — which manages over $1 billion in assets — must make a business case for environmental action. Douglass Guernsey, a shareholder advocate at Green Century Capital Management who helped negotiate the agreements with Disney and Choice Hotels, said the new commitments show that companies are waking up to the threat that single-use plastics pose to their bottom line. Between the prospect of more stringent state regulations, new lawsuits against plastic producers, and a global plastics treaty being negotiated by the United Nations, plastics are facing some potentially severe regulatory and reputational prospects over the coming years.

The companies’ pledges also shed light on the shareholder advocacy strategy, which is not necessarily to sway companies through voting on shareholder resolutions, but to use the prospect of a vote as a negotiating tool. According to Guernsey, shareholder advocates almost always prefer to reach an agreement with companies through dialogue — they only file a resolution if they feel that it’s needed to keep the conversation going. In some cases, after a resolution is filed, companies agree to make some kind of commitment in exchange for the resolution’s withdrawal.

#reduceplastics

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Pretty cool - how can I get one of these brooms?

#plastic recycling

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Wait -- it can't be - laundry detergent can disolve polylactic acid - that's awesome!!

#plastic recycling #nanoplastics

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So, I guess it means we should be using cloth bags instead of heavy reusable plastic bags - but what to do with the ones we already have?? Read this ->

#plastic recycling

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Here's what I don't understand - why the scientists put nanoplastics into the water and not just test the nanoplastics already existing in the water - read this ->

#nanoplastics #water

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Truth about plastic recycling

#plastic recycling

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A must read about plastic recycling -

#plastic recycling

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A must read about plastic recycling -

#plastic recycling

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Buy better bottles that are easy to wash and transport. Filter your NYC water - it's better and cheaper than buying plastic water! That's what you are drinking if you drink from bottled water! Read this ->

#plastic water bottle

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It's easy to make small changes - and especially if those changes save money!!

Baby steps to sustainability

One of my most faithful readers pointed out that she frequently feels guilty when she reads some of my blog’s sustainability suggestions that will not work for her.  That is sooooo not the intent of this blog.  This blog is a menu of suggestions that you can follow if you want to.  Please, no guilt!   The title of my blog is 3% sustainability.  What this means is that if a large number of people reduce their impact on the earth by 3 % (or hopefully more), all those little things will add up and begin to make a difference.  Changing by 3% will not solve the environmental problems facing the earth right now, but each small thing we do can be the seed for other beneficial changes.  None of us can make all of the changes suggested by this blog, but most of us can reduce our impact on the earth by 3% without making huge changes in our lives.  I do not implement every suggestion in this blog.  I implement those that work for me and continue to look for other changes I can make. Mobility, geography, medical issues, personality, living situation, and similar factors will affect which ideas work for each of us.  Rural locations do not have public transportation.  A person in a wheelchair cannot use the stairs instead of an elevator.  Few people are able or willing to be fully vegan, but you can incorporate one or two plant-based meals into your weekly menu.  If an idea does not appeal to you, you are unlikely to make that change, so pick ideas that do appeal to you.  Evaluate if some of your daily actions can be modified to be slightly more sustainable.  And give yourself credit for the changes you have already made.  To help remind readers that this blog is meant for sharing suggestions for small changes, my posts will now end with “baby steps toward 3% sustainability”. 

“Baby steps toward 3% sustainability”

#savemoney

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Would you like some plastic with your water???

#microplasticswater #waterbottles

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Very interesting must read -

#plastic #water bottles

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#water #bottledwater #nanoplastics

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#plasticrecycling #singleuseplastics

#recycling #singleuseplastics

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25 posts!

To the next 25!!

#25 posts #tumblr milestone