E-M:/ NY Times on Profiting from Environmental Concerns

[Tracey Easthope <tracey@ecocenter.org>]

Title: NY Times on Profiting from Environmental Concerns

Michigan should be capitalizing on the emerging demand for green products!

New York Times

Saving the Environment,

One Quarterly Earnings Report at a Time

By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH

Companies are profiting from environmental concerns - from global warming to leaking landfills - as new environment-friendly companies appear each day.

""The environmental industry is about to take off, as more investors realize that they can reap returns from cleaner technologies," said Dan Bakal, director of electric power programs at Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental organizations that runs the investor network."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/22/business/22enviro.html?th&emc=th

November 22, 2005

Saving the Environment, One Quarterly Earnings Report at a Time
By CLAUDIA H. DEUTSCH

A few years ago, scientists at Cargill Inc. learned how to make rigid, transparent plastics from corn sugars. There was just one problem: they cost a lot more than the oil-based plastics they would replace.

But that was before the price of oil shot up and companies came under pressure from consumers and investors to find economically sound ways to adopt "green" packaging and other environmentally friendly products and processes. This year, Wal-Mart, Wild Oats Market and many other retailers, as well as food suppliers like Del Monte and Newman's Own Organics, all embraced corn-based packaging for fresh produce.

Sales at NatureWorks, the Cargill subsidiary that makes the plastic, grew 200 percent in the first half of this year over the period last year. "The early adopters were more influenced by environmental concerns than costs," said Kathleen M. Bader, chairwoman of NatureWorks. "But now we're competitive with petrochemicals, too."

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