Green Corporate Network

Quite often, when we talk about “Green Corporate Missions” and sustainable business, our vision never goes beyond the works of Big Corporates like Walmart and GE. However, there are thousands of corporates “Down-Under” who are changing the face of the world with their innovative missions and effective implementation. SELCO is one of them. Here is their “Green Corporate Mission” :

Our mission is to empower the lives of underserved populations throughout the world by selling, servicing and financing products that sustainably improve their quality of life.

SELCO designs and sells photovoltaic (PV) solar-home-systems (SHS), principally for lighting, but also suitable for radios, cassette players and fans. It marries these innovative ideas with poverty alleviation principles to create a very innovative and environmentally sustainable business strategy. Here is their customer:

SELCO received the ”Ashden award for Global Sustainability” for its path breaking work.

Let “Treehuggers” of the world not forget grassroot ideas that create a difference among the poor when they talk about “Green Fashion”.

Let’s talk about distribution facilities today. Those huge monolith structures in the center of no where, real estate properties that keep most of the countries supply chain moving. ProLogis is the leader of the industry.

ProLogis is the world’s largest owner, manager and developer of distribution facilities, with operations in 20 countries spanning three continents.

The company has $26.7 billion of assets owned, managed and under development, comprising 422 million square feet (39.2 million square meters) in 2,466 properties as of December 31, 2006. ProLogis’ customers include manufacturers, retailers, transportation companies, third-party logistics providers and other enterprises with large-scale distribution needs. Headquartered in Denver, Colorado, ProLogis employs more than 1,250 people worldwide.

Via their website

So, it is heartening to note that they came out with their first “Corporate Sustainability Report” under the GRI initiative. They have incorporated a Green Mission that they call “straightforward” .

Our mission with regard to sustainability is straightforward: to be the leading global provider of sustainable distribution facilities and to create an optimal balance between shareholder value, the environment and corporate social responsibility.

To ProLogis, sustainability is a business approach that recognizes economic, environmental and social objectives. It defines who we are and how we operate. Check out their report and decide for yourself how “Green” is their mission.

TESCO is UK’s biggie with 250,000 employees and 1779 retail stores. Obviously, it’s carbon footprint is huge. It has realized the worth of “Going Green” and proclaim their “Green Corporate Mission” in no uncertain terms:

We work with our customers, staff and suppliers to make sustainable choices and reduce our impact on the environment.

Our priorities:

Reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions

Reducing, reusing and recycling waste

Making our products more sustainable

Via Tesco’s Website

They have come out with their Annual sustainability report. You can download it here

Putting the Energy of your Money in the Direction of your Values

A simple quote with profound implications. This investment company based in UK has captured the essence of any business with a “Green Mission” . Companies and organizations are in the business to make money. They reflect the pulse of the society that we live in. As the society incorporates “Green Values” these companies will “outsmart” themselves and turn “Green”. So, the power of “Green” lies in you.

At “Green Corporate Network” , we take a pledge to seek out and highlight every company in this world who has taken a pledge to “Go Green” as reflected in their corporate mission. We will do this one at a time. Come , support us and join our network

While we feature individual businesses, it is equally important to highlight the work of consortiums , groups and associations who are working to bring scientific understanding and development of standards. Green Grid is one such association in the IT industry with members like microsoft working to bring energy efficiency in Data Centers. Here is their Corporate MIssion:

The Green Grid is a global consortium dedicated to developing and promoting energy efficiency for data centers and information service delivery by:

Defining meaningful, user-centric models and metrics

Developing standards, measurement methods, processes and new technologies to improve performance against the defined metrics

Promoting the adoption of energy efficient standards, processes, measurements and technologies

Learn more about them

“A mission to build a sustainable world community together”

Talking “Green” without regard to the community that is part of the eco-system shows the immaturity of the new “Green” companies. “Green Beans Coffeee” is different. It wears it’s community credentials on its sleeve and weaves it in its corporate mission. We nominate them today for their innovative statement.

At Green Beans Coffee Worldcafè, we:

Believe that community is cultivated over a cup of extraordinary coffee or tea, as it has been for generations all over the world. Our stores are a place where community happens.

Honor the brave men and women whose courage and sacrifice for liberty can never be measured, only remembered and revered. We strive to provide a refuge of peace and tranquility in some of the world’s most dangerous places, and donate a percentage of our sales to organizations that aid troops, their families and their communities.

Celebrate diversity in our products, our causes and our people because variety is the spice of life.

Search the globe in our quest to offer the highest quality coffees and teas, seeking out organic options whenever possible.

Support sustainable solutions, recycling, re-inventing and reusing resources in our operating practices and store design.

Commit our collective brainpower, expansive optimism, outstanding good humor, zealous sense of adventure and passionate devotion to superior coffee to the good of our community and our customers.
We invite you to join us in our mission to build a sustainable world community together.

Via their website

“Our unique role is to give customers the information they need to make more sustainable choices, and extend these from a minority to the mainstream by making green options more affordable – just as we have made other products more affordable. This is not altruism. By satisfying this growing demand, we will be rewarded with more custom and more loyalty. Tesco will grow stronger as a result."- TESCO CEO, Sir Terry Leahy

Via Tesco’s website