In February 2009, Summit Publishing Company launched  GreenerPackage™ , a Knowledge Exchange for Sustainable Packaging. We were fortunate to have the opportunity to interview Christine Smallwood, director of business development for GreenerPackage, to learn more about this new initiative by the publishers of Packaging World magazine.

What is a Knowledge Exchange?

A Knowledge Exchange is a place where ideas can be shared.

How does GreenerPackage hope to serve as a Knowledge Exchange?

By tapping into the expertise of others. First, we formed an Expert Network, which has served as our Advisory Board since we germinated the idea of GreenerPackage. These individuals, recognized as leaders in sustainable packaging, have been a compass that has kept us true to our original ideals, which are to further sustainable packaging.

Who are the members of your Expert Network?

Representatives from Costco, SC Johnson, Estee Lauder, Unilever, Frito-Lay, Stoneyfield Farm, GlaxoSmithKline, General Mills, ConAgra, Colgate-Palmolive, Kraft, Marks and Spencer, Sears and Walmart; plus members of the consulting and academic communities – a sort of who’s who of sustainable packaging. But more importantly, people who are living and breathing the complex challenges associated with sustainable packaging and who are examining the myriad of ideas, processes, and solutions that are being brought to market everyday to make sustainability part of the traditional business model in the global marketplace.

How was the idea for GreenerPackage born?

My colleague, David Newcorn, Vice President/eMedia for Summit Publishing Company is a former writer and editor of Packaging World magazine. During his professional journey – moving from editorial to eMedia – David picked up and read the book, Cradle to Cradle, and was inspired to write a cover story for Packaging World featuring McDonough and Braungart. This spurred the formation of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. Soon after, David became a thought-leader in eMedia.

It was David’s original idea to create GreenerPackage a few years later, after several successful website launches.

What was your role in the process?

Just call me David’s humble colleague, who also happens to have a personal passion for sustainability and the furthering of sustainable packaging.

In what other ways is GreenerPackage achieving its goal of being a Knowledge Exchange?

We have been able to tap into the more than 150,000-member database of packaging professionals, owned by our parent company Summit Publishing, in order to launch the site. This has provided immediate engagement of a statistical majority of the professional community. When a visitor comes to the site, they are provided access to daily news postings, developed and written by our Managing Editor, Anne Marie Mohan. In addition, the reader can join and participate in the discussions, either by starting one or commenting on others. We are also accepting entries for our GreenerPackage Awards and finally, we will be launching the GreenerPackage Product Database within the next six to eight weeks. This will be a very valuable tool for the industry that will provide transparency to the whole notion of sustainable packaging.

What is your relationship with ECRM® and Walmart as it relates to your Product Database?

Well, you’ll have to go to our site and read an interview Anne Marie Mohan just completed with Sam’s Club director of packaging, Amy Zettlemoyer-Lazar.  In short, the GreenerPackage Database will be a powerful, third-party tool that will go a long way to help CPGs and Retailers make more sustainable packaging choices. We do this by providing a breadth of searchable information, requiring third-party audit of all environmental claims and creating a user-interface that is robust and elegant all at the same time.

How do you hope to stand out in what appears to be an increasingly crowded field?

By getting out of the way. Our journalistic ideals require us to report the news, void of opinion. We recognize that traditional business really demands the incorporation of sustainable packaging within a framework that not only requires better materials choices, but also discovers efficiencies which maintain and even heighten profitability. We have created a Knowledge Exchange where industry thought-leaders can share best practices that further sustainable packaging while staying true to the charters put forth by their shareholders.

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Christine J. Smallwood is director of business development for GreenerPackage™ and a 24-year veteran of publishing within the packaging press.

For more information, please visit www.greenerpackage.com or email smallwood [at]greenerpackage [dot] com.

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The world of sustainability is obviously much larger than just packaging and we work hard to develop relationships with companies able to provide answers for our customers and friends. TerraLocke Sustainability Consultants is a company that focuses of sustainability from an operational and facilities perspective. They are a leader in their field and are well known for their thorough Sustainability Audits. There is much confusion and misinformation on greenhouse gases and the resulting carbon footprint so I asked TerraLocke co-founder and managing director, Peter Locke to bring some clarity to this important area of sustainability.

DS: Why might our readers be interested in conducting a greenhouse gas inventory for their business?

PL: There are a few reasons. One, they want to use the inventory results to help identify potential risk areas within their business. Two, companies want to gain experience conducting inventories so they are prepared for when potential federal legislation requires them to do so. Three, companies might be able to make money trading greenhouse gas (GHG) credits on a GHG trading market such as the Chicago Climate Exchange. Four, management feels it is necessary or advantageous to report their emissions to their shareholders or potential investors.

DS: Peter, I know you’ve said the discussion of greenhouse gas inventories can get detailed pretty quickly so let’s start by talking about it in general terms. So what is a greenhouse gas inventory?

PL: It is a listing of specific gases, such as carbon dioxide, that a company emits over a given period. The quantities of gases emitted typically are kept track of over the course of a year and are measured in tons.

DS: What if I’m a business that uses primarily electricity? How is it that my business emits gases?

PL: Great question and the answer is that your business emits what are called “indirect emissions”. For your business to consume electricity the power plant must burn natural gas or coal, which emits gasses, and it is these emissions that a company can work to reduce. (For the power plant gases, the gases it emits are “direct emissions”; Companies also emit what are termed fugitive gases but I’ll save those for a later discussion.)

DS: There seems like there might be a double counting issue here between the business and the power plant but I’ll also save that question for a later time.

DS: Who defines which gases are inventoried and what are those gases?

PL: The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change or IPCC defines which gases are inventoried. The IPCC consists of over 2,000 of the world’s climate experts and was established by the United Nations in 1988. It has defined six gases to inventory which are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, hydro fluorocarbon, per fluorocarbon, and sulfur hexafluoride.

DS: You mentioned the Chicago Climate Exchange, what is it?

PL: The Chicago Climate Exchange is a voluntary greenhouse gas trading market on which any of the six GHGs can be traded. Its customers are businesses, states, and cities that have voluntarily entered into legally binding agreements to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by specific percentages on specific dates. You can learn more on their web site which is www.chicagoclimateexchange.com.

DS: How do you conduct a greenhouse gas inventory?

PL: Very basically, a business determines the scope of what they want to inventory, they obtain the necessary information from documents such as utility bills or financial reports, and then they enter this information into an emissions calculation tool. The scope of a businesses’ inventory can be narrow with a focus on say purchased electricity or it can be broad and include fuel used at its facilities, air miles traveled by their employees, and/or gas consumed by their employees commuting to and from work. The scope could also include the emissions from the businesses’ supply chain. Few businesses have taken it this far. As for emission calculation tools, the industry standard is the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol. These tools are available on their website.

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This month represents an anniversary of sorts for me because it was one year ago when I submitted my first, above titled article to Rider Thompson of Sustainable Is Good and he chose to publish it. The article was a tongue in cheek recap of my career in packaging and how it relates to sustainability. Much to my surprise, it was picked up and run by numerous other internet outlets including Reuters and GreenBiz.

It seemed like a good time to share with you some observations and what we have learned about sustainability during the last year.

1. Sustainability continues growing. Perhaps not at break neck speed because in part of the sluggish economy but at a good steady rate.
2. There is a good, steady flow of new, green startup companies designed to gain share of this new and promising market.
3. Interest level remains very high but it often falls more into the “talk the talk” rather than “walk the walk” category. Believe it or not, there are still some doubters who believe this will pass.
4. The packaging industry has responded with a flurry of innovation and design. Many of us are eagerly looking forward to the Pack Expo show in Chicago, this November. We anticipate many new green products to be introduced at this huge, bi-annual packaging show.
5. Green washing, spin and outright deception have been rampant but they are increasingly being exposed as consumers grow more knowledgeable.

While we have taught some in the last year, we have also learned much from others including the fact that sustainability is a whole lot more than basic volume reduction of packaging materials. We also learned that sustainability can be very frustrating and confusing, so long term, maintaining a good sense of humor is probably a good idea. If you can use a chuckle, please check out the original post.