October 2009 |
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Table of Contents FTSLA News Sustainability Tips & Resources
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FTSLA News FTSLA Webinars FTSLA will be launching a "webinar" series in November with the Organic Trade Association. These web-based seminars will focus on timely, relevant sustainability issues with a focus on practical information and tools you can apply to sustaianbility goals. Expert speakers and experienced companies will provide informative presentations, followed by an interactive Q/A to share questions, challenges and best practices. If you haven't completed our member survey, please do so, as we are using response to identify webinar topics. Member companies are welcome to have multiple team members participate. Check out twitter.com/ftsla for member updates, news and resources on sustainability in the organic trade. Our twitter feed will be posted on our website for easy access and visibility for FTSLA's mission and members. Please follow us if you're on twitter, and check out members' feeds there. Let us know if if you're on twitter and we aren't following you so we can add you! FTSLA started off the fall with several presentations at Natural Products Expo East and the Provender Alliance Conference. Please visit our website to view presentations. |
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Several members are submitting annual sustainability audits, which are available in our members-only section. FTSLA members are encouraged to log on to view these and learn about other members' sustainability programs and progress. Nature's Path also released a public sustainability report. PCC Markets received Seattle Business Magazine's "Green Washington Award" for the retail category, recognizing its "leadership, innovation and commitment to sustaining the environment." |
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Sustainability Tips & Resources Clean Production Action has released a "plastic scorecard" comparing the lifecycle impacts of various petro and bio-based plastics, and scoring each on overall environmental preference. This is intended to be a tool to help select the most environmentally responsible plastic for a given use. Scorecard developer Mark Rossi presented this excellent work at the Responsible Packaging Forum at Expo East.) |
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Victory on GMOs: A US District Court rejected USDA's approval of GMO sugar beets for failure to assess risks-contamination/herbicides. This stands to put the brakes on future use of these crops, though seeds have been planted for the 2009 season already. Organic and Climate Change: The Rodale Institute has reported that if all US farmland were organic we'd sequester 25% of US carbon emissions. This highlights a key benefit we can all communicate to those who buy our products, and adds impetus for your industry to engage in policies that expand and level the playing field for organic farming. Eco/social labels & consumers: BBMG has reported that consumers fail to recognize most eco/social product labels, and that the purchasing influence most labels have is fairly low. The USDA Certified Organic label ranked #3 in recognition and purchasing influence. These findings highlights the need to back up label usage with specific information about related practices and their benefits, helping stakeholders understand the meaning and commitment behind the label. Wal-Mart has provided the World Resources Institute with funds to develop a tool to measure supply chain GHG emissions, and rate eco-labels, potentially shaping which labels gain predominance in the broader marketplace. |
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Natalie Reitman-White, Executive Director |
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