This week Sony joined a roster of companies providing in-store recycling kiosks for any electronic product, regardless of its brand. Waste Management also launched a new CFL bulb that comes packaged in a postage-paid box. Consumers can use the container to return dead CFLs to a recycling center, ensuring the bulbs, which contain a small amount of mercury, will be properly discarded. And earlier this month, the Estee Lauder brand Origins announced it will accept and recycle used cosmetic containers from any manufacturer (cosmetics packaging like lipstick tubes and shampoo bottles account for a third of landfill waste!) at all of its stores and counters nationwide. What does this mean for consumers? It’s getting easier to be “green.”

Step one was creating and providing environmentally responsible products, but the cost of a corporate environmental commitment today goes far beyond the store shelf. Companies are stepping up to help ease the common barriers which prevent consumers from proper use and disposal of their products. They are extending their commitments by offering turn-key solutions for responsible engagement throughout the product life cycle, minimizing not only the manufacturing impact of their products, but also accommodating the safe disposal or reuse of materials they contain. And frankly, they are eliminating, one-by-one, the excuses consumers have for not being green.

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matt

May 4, 2009 10:17 AM Hi My Name is Matthew.I am 15 years old and trying hard to make a difference in the world. I learned a few years ago that the Clean Water Crisis was a serious problem and I am trying to do something about it. A vote for me at http://www.metowe.com/awards/vote/ will help me put $5000 toward water filtration in Africa. Check out my video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Faz5Y569DGc and visit my website for more information about my project. Please pass this on to your family, friends and colleagues. Thanks for your help making our world a better place. Please VOTE ASAP at http://www.metowe.com/awards/vote/ One drop at a time, Matthew Warnock Director: h2o-canada http://www.h2o-canada.ca

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