Work Recycling

Southwest Airlines has negotiated with Solena Fuels for a supply of 100 percent biomass-derived jet fuel to be produced in northern California. To produce the fuel, Solena fuels will use biomass-, post-recycled urban and agricultural wastes. Southwest is a member of the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative, a group that supports the development and use of commercially viable, environmentally friendly, alternative aviation fuels.

L’Oreal held its first sustainability stakeholder event in London last week. The 2011 L’Oreal Stakeholders Forum at the Royal Society was presented as an open dialogue with external stakeholders, including environmentalists, human rights organizations, women’s groups, and CSR specialists. The London event is the first in a series, with similar meetings to follow in Hong Kong, Sau Paulo, and New York.

This CSR Minute is brought to you by Media Impact. Empowering communities worldwide to inspire enduring change through creative storytelling. For more information visit: http://mediaimpact.org/

For more information on these and other stories, go to thecsrminute.com

Video source: CSR Minute: Southwest Buys Biomass Jet Fuel from Solena; L'Oreal Holds First Sustainability Stakeholder Event in London

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) - Minneapolis, MN - June 21, 2011 - Relan LLP announced it will partner with Verizon (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), on an initiative to collect vinyl from Verizon billboards and banners and re-purpose it to create totes, bags, and other useful and unique sustainable products.

The program is part of Verizon’s comprehensive sustainability program designed to find practical and innovative solutions to reduce the carbon footprint of its global operations.

“This partnership highlights the creative opportunities available by incorporating sustainability efforts throughout our business operation,” said James Gowen, Verizon’s chief sustainability officer. “We are proud to partner with Relan on this valuable project, and will continue to seek ways to help our business and our customers reduce their impact on the environment.”

Under the partnership, Relan LLP, Minneapolis, MN, will collect used Verizon vinyl and use that material to create various products, including messenger bags, totes, phone/camera holders, pad folios; virtually any design that can be stitched.  The products can then be sold back to Verizon or sold and distributed to other companies and individuals by Relan.

The Relan LLP has been a pioneer in billboard repurposing since 1994.  Customers include Whole Foods, MillerCoors, Steamboat, Chipotle, The Smithsonian, Lexus, Scion, Disney, and the Sundance Film Festival. www.relanbag.com

About Relan LLP.
Our goal is fairly simple. With over 600,000 tons of outdoor billboards produced in the USA each year, Relan extends marketing initiatives by re-purposing a company's own billboard vinyl into an item that will tell their  green sustainability story much more effectively. Our experience allows for unique American-made design alternatives that encompass not only our legendary tote, but also products specific to our clients needs: cell phone/digital camera holders, conference pad folios, ski bags, corporate-function umbrellas (complete with bamboo support poles), aprons, grill covers, and much more - almost any design can be stitched. Working with organizations such as Lexus, Scion, The Sundance Film Festival, Target, and The Smithsonian, Relan has green solutions to help companies do good for the Earth as well as themselves.

Relan has an additional mission. Approximately 60% of every billboard is made into product, with the remainder of the vinyl needing to be recycled in some manner. Relan has designed a versatile World Bag that will be sold in the western world. For every World Bag sold, a slightly larger version will be built out of that remaining 40% and given away to someone in need. The thought is that people walk and bike in most 3rd world countries and a tough, waterproof bag would assist them in their daily lives.

About Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in New York, is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and wireline communications services to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers.  Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving more than 92 million customers nationwide.  Verizon also provides converged communications, information and entertainment services over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers innovative, seamless business solutions to customers around the world.  A Dow 30 company, Verizon last year generated consolidated revenues of more than $107 billion.  For more information, visit www.verizon.com.

Contact

Tom Schaeppi

Relan LLP

763-656-8552

www.relanbag.com

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(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Monterey, Calif. - June 21, 2011 - More than 750 attendees from 19 countries were present at Sustainable Brands ‘11 (SB’11) in Monterey, Calif. earlier this month to share best practices, challenges and thoughts on the shifting landscape of corporate sustainability. The critical role of both brands and entrepreneurial ventures in facilitating innovative and lasting change was illuminated by the conference’s “Play On” theme, which was present during breakout sessions and evening festivities throughout the four-day event. From engaging all attendees in a drumming performance with Drum Cafe to hosting a scavenger hunt, Sustainable Brands ‘11 facilitated lively interactions and intelligent conversations through play.

(3BL Media / theCSRfeed) Calgary, Alberta - June 22, 2011 - Encana Corporation has teamed up with the City of Calgary to launch the Encana EcoAction School, a unique educational program to support youth learning about wetlands and water conservation in an outdoor classroom setting at the new Ralph Klein Park in Calgary.

The Encana EcoAction School allows teachers to take students from Grades 1 to 12 out of the classroom and into the wetlands park for one week during the school year to experience environmental education programming at the state-of-the-art Environmental Education and Ethics Centre at Ralph Klein Park. The program will emphasize the importance of water, wetlands and ecosystems. The Encana EcoAction School will be operated by Campus Calgary Open Minds, an outreach educational program supported by the Calgary Board of Education and the Calgary Catholic School District.

“We are excited to be leading this educational program that will provide hundreds of students with new skills and a greater understanding of the important role they play in stewarding and sustaining our environment,” said Patricia Etris, Team Lead for Encana’s Community Involvement. “It will focus on wetlands, water conservation and other environmental impacts – issues that Encana knows are very important.”

“The Encana EcoAction School is an amazing program that provides youth with the opportunity to explore their natural surroundings in an authentic and stimulating learning setting,” said Kym McCulley, Environmental Education & Initiatives Lead with The City of Calgary Parks.  “We are thrilled that Encana has partnered with us to create such a fantastic opportunity for Calgary’s young students." 

Encana will contribute $300,000 to sponsor the Encana EcoAction School over three years. The new 30-hectare Ralph Klein Park is located within a 200-hectare constructed wetland in southeast Calgary. The park provides a mix of upland, wetlands and open water habitat for wildlife. The wetlands also use natural vegetation to treat storm water before it is discharged into the city’s Bow River. Several energy conserving strategies and unique building construction methods were used in designing the park.

Elizabeth Godfrey, a Grade 5 teacher with St. Patrick Elementary School, was one of a number of Calgary teachers whose classes participated in a pilot of the program earlier this year. “As a teacher, the Encana EcoAction School extends our school curriculum in a way that I never could have done in a regular classroom,” she said. “The kids really learned about their impact on the environment. We were out and around the site every day. Every day there was an expert on hand to talk to the kids. They absolutely loved it. Many of them said the experience changed their lives. For instance, many of them are now taking shorter showers and starting to recycle in their homes.”

For more information about Ralph Klein Park visit www.calgary.ca/rkp.

About Encana

Encana is a leading North American producer of clean, affordable natural gas. The way our people do business reflects our commitment to responsible development, safety, sound environmental practices and community engagement. Encana invests in community programs in the areas of environment, education, community enhancement, sports and recreation and family and community wellness. Success is defined by sustainable financial performance and our contribution to the strength and sustainability of the communities where we operate. Further information on Encana Corporation is available on the company’s website, www.encana.com.

For more information please contact:

ENCA14758