Celsias
Lots of press releases come via the email, explaining good things that companies are doing in the sustainability space. And its great to see that companies recognise the importance of sustainable manufacturing, but I'm left struggling with this one from Mattel. So I checked their website to see how much they wanted to tell me.
A single paragraph ....mmmm.
And on their main site...I was clearly meant to shop and buy stuff.That was actually the only message I got .
They tell me "Mattel's sustainability strategy is focused on helping the company minimize its footprint throughout the value chain and across the organization, and emphasizes the importance of personal commitment in business as well as everyday practices and processes. First, by "designing it" with the end in mind, Mattel is focused on exploring opportunities for sustainability in the design of products and packaging; "making it" with eco-efficiencies that allows the company to identify opportunities to gain efficiencies and reduce environmental impacts through the manufacturing and distribution of its products; and by "living it" with the personal commitment that the company is fostering a culture of sustainability, which inspires employee-led grassroots initiatives.
My brain's gone numb. Does anyone talk like that? I'm trying to cut down on coffee but that went out the window. And I'm already on the second cup Examples of Mattel's sustainability progress include:
Packaging Improvements: In an effort to reduce packaging materials, Mattel has reduced wire/twist ties by more than 90 percent across the company's product lines. In addition, Mattel recently completed a life cycle assessment of packaging across multiple product lines to identify impacts and opportunities for future improvements.
Wire twist ties ? Great ! But wait- What percentage of the product is wire twist ties ?
Resource Expeditions: Mattel continually seeks out ways to conserve energy and water across the organization, and has implemented employee-led resource expeditions that identify opportunities for improvements. To date, Mattel has conducted 16 global expeditions and identified more than 250 initiatives with a potential savings of 22 million kWh and nine million gallons of water, which is equivalent to removing 2,000 U.S. homes from the electricity grid for one year and
13 Olympic-sized swimming pools respectively.
Sounds great after 16 global trips - but what percentage of water is being saved? No, I'm not told anywhere that I can find. Is there a reason,I'm wondering?
Composting: Mattel's manufacturing facility in Monterrey, Mexico, opened one of the region's largest composting facilities in May 2010. The composting facility handles more than 50 kgs of food scraps from the facility's cafeteria, as well as materials including coffee waste, paper and hand towel waste. The composting facility diverted nearly 15.6 tonnes of waste from the local landfill during a 12-month period. Mattel also shares the compost by-product with the employees and the local community, for use in personal gardens.
Great-big tick- but wait - is that one composting plant ?Just one ?
Mattel apparently also sees positive impacts that come out of the company's rich corporate culture, including:
Café Improvements: Mattel's employee cafeterias at its El Segundo headquarters have also made tangible improvements in 2011, from buying locally-grown produce and improving recycling processes to decrease the use of non-recyclable materials by more than 42%.
Good- but is this new? Why would this take so long ?
Daycare Composting and Organic Garden: Mattel parents who practice sustainability efforts at home brought a composting solution to the Mattel Child Development Center, located at the company's El Segundo headquarters, educating the children of employees about sustainability. Preschoolers at the Center separate food scraps and feed the worms in the composting bin, and use the leachate from the composter in the Center's organic vegetable garden, which the children also tend.
Nice - and nice that the company didn't think it necessary til the people brought it from home....I've obviously missed something here .
As part of Mattel's sustainability efforts, the company will be hosting two important events this spring:
Mattel's "Green" Grant for Earth Day 2011
Mattel also announced today that it will mark Earth Day 2011 by partnering with "Heal the Bay," a Los Angeles-based charitable organization dedicated to protecting the coastline of Southern California. Mattel will grant $10,000 to support beach cleanups
and create employee volunteer events that give Mattel employees and their families the opportunity to participate in community-focused beach clean-ups in the Los Angeles area.
$10k - does that excite people ?
Mattel to Host its Second Electronics Waste Recycling Event:
Mattel and Waste Management will be hosting a recycling event on Thursday, May 12 for electronics waste, or "e-waste," at the company's El Segundo campus for employees and the surrounding community on May 12 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Such
recyclable items include personal TVs, computer monitors, CPUs (desk top computer towers), flat screens (LCD/LED/Plasma),
printers and computer cables. 
Genuinely good
So, I'm left wondering in amongst the long press release what was actually being achieved .Come on Mattel, Barbie is over 50 now. And so is Ken. Babyboomers both of them. Responsible perhaps for one of the fastest depletions of the world's resources that we have ever seen. Shouldn't they perhaps be feeling a bit anxious about what they are leaving behind? Because the figures for the world's resources havent held anywhere near as well as their perfect physiques.
Mattel toys are the currency of many kids. Their parent company needs to have a much more significant attempt at climate change action than their latest PR statement
For other great stories check out Celsias
