This June, Boeing will be showing off its new 787 Dreamliner plane. The Dreamliner will be 20 percent more fuel efficient than the majority of airplanes, and is designed in part to increase the number of direct flights between mid-sized cities. The idea here is that reduced layovers will mean fewer take-offs and landings, both of which use more fuel than when the plane is airborne. Airbus has its own plane in the works, though that isn’t expected to be on the market until 2013, a full five years after Boeing’s rival model flies.

And with the rising cost of oil, using less jet fuel saves these two companies some serious green. Now if only the auto companies would follow suit…

For those unfamiliar with mulesing, it’s named after John Mules – the first to “accidentally” develop the practice – and involves cutting off pieces of wrinkle skin from around the rear of a sheep to prevent flystrike. Flystrike leads to infection and eventually death, however mulesing is extremely painful and often done with little or no painkillers for the sheep. Enter PETA.

PETA heavily fought the practice, commonplace in Australia, and reached a tentative cease-fire with the nation’s wool industry (AWI) last summer (the Australian Wool Industry agreed to stop mulesing, and PETA had to agree to “conduct itself within the law”). It appears that the AWI is now reneging on its promise, and PETA is again up in arms.

Many retailers have already stopped importing wool from Australia because of the practice. Sweden-based H&M is the latest of them, saying, “H&M does not accept mulesing. The company has decided to direct its buying towards other countries of origin and other suppliers in Australia that can guarantee mulesing-free merino wool.”

The list, compiled from responses to a questionnaire CDP sent to over 2400 companies worldwide, compares FT 500 companies in each sector on how transparent they are on regarding their climate change practices.

Institutional investors worth over $41 trillion, known as “signatory investors”, including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and HSBC put their name on CDP’s questionnaire. The 315 signatory investors will use the resulting information to “assess the potential risks and opportunities relating to climate change” from participants in order to better advise clients on how to invest.

Participation in the questionnaire was voluntary, and the results are “self-reported, largely non-verified responses,” according to today’s published report.

Companies that made the list include Hewlett-Packard, Citigroup and Coca-Cola.

The Carbon Disclosure Project was founded in 2000 by CEO Paul Dickinson. The CDP began publishing its Climate Disclosure Leadership Index in 2003.

Commentary: Seven of the 68 companies on the CDLI were also listed in Ethisphere’s 2007 World’s Most Ethical Companies Ranking:

• Baxter International
• Marks & Spencer
• Unilever
• Alcoa
• HSBC
• Suncor Energy
• Sun Microsystems

Fifteen signatory investors were on the list as well. Since they obviously weren’t excluded from participating, and taking into consideration the fact they helped develop the questionnaire, it’s worth asking: why didn’t ALL the signatory investors make the cut?

Speedy Hire is a relatively small company compared to most on the list, such as retailing superstore Marks & Spencer and Vodafone, the international mobile phone giant (Vodafone owns a 45% minority stake of Verizon Wireless in the U.S.).

The Observer points out that judging ethical standards is a subjective measure. However, they emphasize that companies without a “sustainable strategy” to deal with ethical risks will inevitably endure financial setbacks.

You can read the entire article as well as judge the list for yourself by heading over to The Observer.

Commentary: Although listed as the number 1 most ethical company in the UK, there’s no mention of the distinction on Speedy Hire’s ‘Awards & Recognition’ or ‘History’ sections of their website. This is compared to oilfield service company Expro, which made 19th on the list and displays the recognition clearly on their homepage (which has a very cool introductory video). It’s unclear whether Speedy Hire forgot to acknowledge the kudos altogether or decided to humbly continue with business as usual.

The company just reported stellar earnings, befitting its astronomical business name, wherein management bragged a little bit about its community reputation. Ethisphere recently named Sun one of the most ethical companies in the world and showcased Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz as a leader in ethical business leadership, so I thought it timely to have a look at the boardroom, too….

The company comes across as personable and transparent, from the open-source board involvement, through the executive blogs, to the shields-down takeover defenses. Word on the street is that the corporate culture matches this openness, and that management has the trust of its employees. Speaking as a former Sun admin myself, this attitude is a far cry from the downtrodden worldview of only a few years ago, and it seems like this is the way Sun was always supposed to act but never quite could. Carry on, ladies and gentlemen.

What’s the lesson here? Good ethics is not just about attracting better employees… it also attracts media attention and investors too. Check the piece out for yourself here.

At the core of the development are Xerox’s technical achievements, which have increased the amount of a tree that can be used (doubling the yield per tree from 45% to 90%) and used less water and chemicals in production (resulting in reduced energy use and emissions by up to 75%). And finally, as the paper is materially lighter in weight, it costs less to transport (and uses less energy along the way).

The downside to the paper, however, is that it does not age as well as normal paper, turning yellow over time.

Commentary: This is an excellent example of aligning business innovation with environmental responsibility for greater profit (in keeping with Ethisphere’s slogan GOOD. SMART. BUSINESS. PROFIT.).

Due to the “yellowing” issue, however, there will be limits to how widely this paper will be used (do you really want all of your documents to turn yellow?). As Xerox itself points out, the core market for this yellower greener paper will be in paper printouts which are not intended to have a long shelf-life (such as invoices, statements, direct mail pieces, manuals, catalogs and brochures).

Xerox appears to be stepping up its sustainability and resource commitments across the board. Less than two weeks ago on July 19th, the company also announced that it was joining the U.S. Climate Action Partnership (USCAP), increasing the total membership of the group to 31 corporations representing nearly $2 trillion in revenues.

In the letter, Disney Chief Executive Bob Iger insisted that smoking in Disney-branded films would be “non-existent” in the future.

Commentary: Before everyone raises Disney on some throne, a dose of skepticism may be in order, as smoking has never been so rife as in such movies as The Princess Diaries, the Shaggy Dog, and the Santa Clause. Furthermore, Iger makes no commitments regarding all the other titles and studios under Disney’s control, such as Miramax and Touchstone. And finally, the timing of this note is a little suspicious as it came just weeks after the Motion Picture Association of America, responsible for the film ratings system, said it would consider smoking alongside other factors, such as violence or sexual content, when rating a film.

So, while we like Disney overall, Iger might have been better off not trumpeting Disney’s position through letters and media interviews.

Meanwhile, poor Hallmark studios (which does make movies for older audiences) hopped on the bandwagon just two days after Disney’s letter… and got ZERO press for it.

We now know who has a better PR firm. :)

By 2020, the confectionery company intends to slash half of its net absolute carbon emissions, with at least 30 percent a result of internal actions.

“We recognize that if we are serious about tackling climate change, we need to be ‘absolutely’ committed,” said Cadbury Schweppes CEO Todd Stitzer in a statement. “This means re-thinking the way we do business, embedding sustainability into every decision we take.”

Cadbury Schweppes also plans a 10 percent reduction in packaging per ton of product in addition to a gradual shift to using up to 60 percent biodegradable packaging.

Commentary: Many people in the U.S. are not familiar with the term “absolute net” when it comes to carbon offsetting (most are more focused simply on purchasing carbon offset credits, as opposed to actual reduction in carbon generation at the source). The Cadbury “absolute net” effort focuses first on minimizing energy use through efficiency improvements, switching to more environmentally energy forms, and then, only as as a last resort, purchasing offsets such as sponsoring the planting of carbon-neutralizing trees, etc.

What we particularly like about Cadbury’s environmental strategy is that they have given the initiative its own brand: “Purple Goes Green.” We have found that “branded” initiatives are easier to understand by employees, generally allow for greater buy-in and acceptance/participation, and also demonstrate greater commitment to the initiative by company leadership as well as the organization as a whole. Kudos to Cadbury!

Citing findings from a recent survey by Goldman Sachs, Ling asserted that companies with strong ethical standards outperform the market. For example, companies on an ethical list compiled by Goldman Sachs outperformed the MSCI World Index by an average of 25 percent. 72 percent of these companies were also found to have outperformed their industry peers.

Anthony Ling of Goldman Sachs International insisted that a company’s “ESG” performance (its environmental, social, and corporate governance) can provide an advantage to the company over competitors because these factors are sure to pay off with customers and employees.

Ling stated that these factors, combined with careful consideration of the company’s place in its industry, competitive advantage, and financial performance should all be taken into account when evaluating investment options in mature or emerging markets.

Commentary: We were thrilled to see this report. Our research at Ethisphere has found similar results. The Ethisphere Ethics Index, which tracks the publicly traded components of the annual World’s Most Ethical Companies Ranking, OUTPERFORMED THE S&P BY MORE THAN 2:1 over the five-year period that ended March 31, 2007.

The article went on to highlight the importance of corporate governance to a company’s success, reinforcing Ethisphere’s long-held idea that more ethically strong companies outperform the less ethical (the article even highlighted our reasoning by pointing out that the 65 companies on our “World’s Most Ethical” list outperformed the S&P over the past five years).

And while the article cites a few different (and sometimes conflicting) measures along with Ethisphere for rating a company’s corporate citizenship, it sends a clear message for those who might still wonder if stock market behavior is any reflection of a company’s ethical reputation. Dvorak’s answer to this? A resounding YES.

Click here to see the full article.

The fast-food group, which to date has been running trucks on 95 percent diesel and five percent biodiesel, will initially use a blend of 85 percent biodiesel and 15 percent rapeseed oil.

The company said the net effect of the plan would be a 78 percent reduction in its carbon emissions.

The move is yet another effort by the group to overhaul its environmental image. A year ago, after a sustained campaign by Greenpeace, McDonald’s agreed to stop using soya from newly deforested land in the Amazon rainforest. This year, it started selling coffee certified by the Rainforest Alliance in its UK restaurants – a move that it says boosted sales by 10 percent.

Commentary: Sorry about the doobie comment – but seriously, there have been numerous instances when we have been passed by bike messengers in New York City and London that are simply ‘pot on wheels’ as the smell lingers for several blocks.

Anyhow, McDonald’s continues to show innovation in sustainability – and the PR that surrounds it. However, can you imagine how hungry everyone is going to be from McDonald’s trucks burning cooking oil as exhaust all day long around London? Hmmm…. perhaps we smell a devious marketing plan here to increase french fry sales across the city through subliminal marketing.

The report, based on results gathered from a survey of 10,000 U.S. workers, showed the impact that working in a strong ethical culture can have on an employee’s pride in an organization, confidence in its future, and overall satisfaction.

The most surprising finding? Just over half of those polled rated their organization positively in providing an ethical culture- only 29 percent actually reported that their employers have an ethically strong culture.

Commentary: Naturally, we are not surprised with the report, as the ability to attract and retain workforce talent is one of the “profit points” behind Ethisphere’s “Good. Smart. Business. Profit.” motto. Of course, it’s always nice to see reaffirming data. This can prove extremely useful for internal compliance and ethics officers looking for additional support for their program efforts.

The “victim”, Victoria McArthur of Romero, Mich., says that Starbursts should come with a warning label and that she does not want to see someone else suffer like her.

“I don’t want to see anybody else have to go through what I have gone through from eating a piece of candy that was supposed to be soft chew” she said.

Commentary: Dear Ms. McArthur: Some other warnings for you… Jolly Ranchers are hard; there are no men inside of a package of Three Musketeers; and despite their lack of obvious warning labels, knives are indeed sharp.

BAE refuses to name the countries it has blacklisted, but analysts suspect that it includes some former are thought to include some Commonwealth members and former customers. Defence analysts believe that these include Nigeria and Indonesia, both of which have bought Hawk jets from BAE.

As Mike Rouse, group marketing director said to the Times:

“We used to be everywhere, but now we operate in about 30 per cent of countries. Some countries we don’t do business with because they are too small to buy our equipment and others are politically sensitive, like China.

As the group marketing director, Make Rouse, said to “There are about 15 to 20 per cent of countries where we just say ‘no’. We take calls from them all the time, but we just cannot do business there. Everybody that operates in this market today has to be compliant with the laws and regulations.”

Commentary: While they may not be popular, military hardware providers are an important part of the global economy and we support the right of any business to pursue its profit. However, this announcement still sounded a bit goofy in some ways. We would have been more impressed if they had named the countries.

Considering there are 245 official countries in the world, this would imply nearly 50 exclusions. Hmmm…here are some of our guesses to fill out what must be a big list after China, Cuba and North Korea… let’s see perhaps Togo, Tonga, Luxembourg, Christmas Island, and Barbados.

Commentary: Another good move by McDonald’s in its push to demonstrate profitable ethical leadership that differentiates itself from the competition. Who better to market green foods that a green person (and one that is a heck of a lot more interesting that the old Green Jolly Giant).

The total solar power production from the stores is estimated at 20 million kWh (kilowatt-hours) per year, possibly becoming one of the world’s top-10 solar power initiatives in the U.S. when fully implemented.

Wal-Mart will use the power generated by the solar panels onsite at each store and will also keep the Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) the units produce, which is unique among most solar power purchases. Enabling Wal-Mart to maintain ownership of the RECs and its stores’ environmental benefits is another important factor in allowing Wal-Mart to reach its goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy.

Commentary: Such a purchase had by Wal-Mart had already been rumored back in January when reports of a RFP being issued by Wal-Mart along these lines hit the media. From RFP to purchase in several months… grass does not grow under Wal-Mart’s feet (lame pun intended).

On a separate note, we know that Wal-Mart has made selling energy-efficient lightbulbs to consumers part of its “green strategy”. Who knows? – maybe a day will come a day when consumers will be able to walk in to a Wal-Mart and purchase solar panels