Can you hear me now?

As one of the fastest growing cell phone companies in the nation, you would think Verizon had all of the money that they needed. Wrong.

Although a lot of customers have switched over to new smart phones that automatically come with data packages, a lot of customers still have un-smart (?) phones that don’t automatically come with data packages. I recall (when I had an un-smart phone) flipping my phone open and accidentally hitting a key that sent me to the internet and then pressing the end button multiple times to try and get out of it before I was charged since I didn’t pay for interent for my phone. I actually did that quite a few times. Well, each time a Verizon customer does that, they are charged $1.99. EACH time they do that, they basically give Verizon two bucks. According to the research done by a New York Times blogger, a Verizon customer will accidentally hit that button three times a month on average. Verizon has 87 million customers. Let me do the math for you. Each month, Verizon makes over $300 MILLION in data revenue (par. 2).

So, as Verizon says, why stop that revenue? The New York Times blogger also said that, when confronted by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), Verizon claimed that they don’t charge their customers for hitting that button (par. 9). However, about 400 people commented on the blog and said that they were charged for accidentally hitting that button. Obviously, Verizon is just trying to cover their behind. 

Eventually, the FCC won out and required Verizon to refund their clients for all of the charges. That sum totalled $90 million. And according to Verizon’s website, in their ethics and governance section, they claim to have a special department of senior executives that makes sure that they stay on the road to becoming a better corporation. They even developed a “corporate responsibility process [that] helps [them] assure that [their] practices keep pace with the evolving needs and expectations of [their] customers” (par. 4).

So, if you’re a Verizon customer, watch out! Corporations are hard to trust and their past actions don’t make it any easier.

Photo by: Matt McGee

Sources: http://pogue.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/10/04/verizon-comes-clean/
http://responsibility.verizon.com/home/approach/chairmans-message/

Are you lovin' it?

When one thinks of fast food restaurants, many names come to mind. However, the most popular fast food restaurant in America, and possibly the world, is McDonald's. And it is for a reason. Not only do they have the best french fries ever made, they have a wide variety of fried and greasy food that seems to be irresistible. Studies have even shown that these foods are irresistible; not just for their taste though.

According to rense.com, an additive called monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been in the food at McDonald’s for over 50 years (par. 14). No wonder America is so fat and unhealthy! This additive has undergone extensive studies and has been proven to not only be a source of obesity, but it’s also an extremely addictive substance (par. 13). MSGExposed.com says MSG has significant effects on your body (obesity), brain, and endocrine system (par. 1). And what’s even worse is that McDonald’s tries to hide it! In each McDonald’s, a nutritional chart is hung on the wall. In all of the McDonald’s that I have been in, I have had to seriously search for the chart to find it, though. And even then, they only list the amount of fat, calories, etc. They don’t list the ingredients, including MSG. Even on the McDonald’s website, under their nutrition section, they only list the healthy ingredients in their food. They forget to tell you the harmful ingredients.

MSG is a very addictive substance and, unfortunately, is in a LOT of the food we eat everyday. It’s just one of those evils that can’t be avoided. However, corporations should try and be more honest when it comes to what exactly is in their food.

Photo by: Roadsidepictures

Sources: http://www.msgexposed.com/boat-loads-of-msg-in-mcdonalds-food-are-you-lovin-it/
http://www.rense.com/general52/msg.htm

Did you just rock my world?

Although I was born in Texas, I’ve lived in Arkansas for about 18 years. In all of those  18 years, I have never felt an earthquake. I mean, come on. An earthquake? In Arkansas? Until recently, I had no idea that there was a (somewhat) major fault line only a couple of hours away. But really. This isn’t California. The danger that comes with living in a place that has numerous earthquakes a day hadn’t occurred to me... until three nights ago when my world was rocked by the largest earthquake Arkansas had seen in 35 years.



Less than two minutes after the worst of the first earthquake I had ever experienced, Facebook exploded with status updates about it. Who was to blame? Was the New Madrid fault line acting up? Or are the natural gas drills to blame?



According to fairwarning.org, an online news site about safety, health, and corporate conduct, researchers can not make a link between the earthquakes and the hydraulic fracking that is taking place in the area (par. 5). However, Scott Ausbrooks, a geohazards supervisor for the Arkansas Geological Survey, says that, “geologists don't believe the production wells are the problem, but rather the injection wells that are used to dispose of "frack" water when it can no longer be re-used. The wastewater is pressurized and injected into the ground” (huffingtonpost.com par. 9). Additional information about wastewater and whether it is illegal or not can be found at this blog.



Any news site or geological website that you can find will tell you almost the same thing; there is not enough information at this time to place blame on anyone. Central Arkansas has a history of small earthquake clusters, so it would not be surprising for history to repeat itself. However, the locations of the earthquakes and the locations of the gas drills is a little bit suspicious.



Regardless of who is to blame, I know I am not alone in wanting these earthquakes to cease their rumbling!

Photo by: danielfoster437




Sources: http://www.fairwarning.org/2011/03/arkansas-quakes-possibly-linked-to-gas-drilling-disposal-operations/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/17/guy-earthquake-swarm-arkansas_n_824497.html

A Family Company

S.C. Johnson's new Greenlist products may be misleading consumers into thinking that their products have been tested by a neutral third party for their "green-ness" when in fact, they haven't.

Within the past year, green banners that sport the title "Greenlist" have sprouted up across the cleaning products of S.C. Johnson, the most popular being Windex and Shout. According to Christopher Beard, the company's public affairs director, the label has enabled the company to eliminate almost 48 million pounds of volatile organic compounds from their products in the last five years (greenbaypressgazette.com).

While this proves to be a true statement, S.C. Johnson has gone around informing it's consumers of their attempts to be green in illegal and deceitful ways. Greenlist is a "rating system used to evaluate and reduce adverse environmental effects of chemical ingredients" (mycleaningproducts.com). What S.C. Johnson doesn't tell the consumers is that this "rating system" is a patent owned by none other than S.C. Johnson. 158. While S.C. Johnson denies that their labeling is misleading, the complaints brought against the company bring up the fact that the only place that the Greenlist insignia is located on their products is on the back of opaque bottles and on the inside of clear bottles (mycleaningproducts.com). Even the insignia doesn't explain that the Greenlist "rating system" is owned by S.C. Johnson; it misleads the consumer into thinking that a neutral third party has tested the products and decided that they were environmentally friendly, which is not the case. 


Even with all of these complaints against their company, S.C. Johnson remains confident in their ability to win these lawsuits. However, they are starting to reword their disclosures on the Greenlist system. Before, their disclosure said, "Greenlist is a rating system that promotes the use of environmentally responsible ingredients" and now it says, "Greenlist: Our patented process to select raw materials with reduced environmental impact while maintaining high performance"(mycleaningproducts.com). I believe that S.C. Johnson has respectable ideas on going green, they just need to be more open about them.




Resources: http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20110210/GPG03/102100594/1247/S.C.-Johnson-s--Greenlist--labeling-deceptive--lawsuit-claims
http://www.mycleaningproducts.com/articles/change-of-s-c-johnsons-labeling.html

Wal-Mart

Walmart has three easy and simple goals when it comes to the environment: to be supplied by 100 percent renewable enegry, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain people and the environment (walmartstores.com). 


In 2005, Walmart began working towards a goal of being supplied by 100 percent renewable energy by 2012. Well, 2012 is only just around the corner, and all Walmart has to say for themselves is that they "have installed a significant number of micro wind turbines at our Sam's Club in Palmdale, California, and store in Worchester, 
Mass., we are using solar energy in California and Hawaii and purchasing wind energy in Texas and Mexico" (walmartstores.com). For a multi-billion dollar corporation, that seems like more than enough time to remove all of their dependencies on non-renewable energy. If they were dedicated enough to improving the environment, they would have. 


Though Walmart has taken some crucial steps towards reducing their waste, they have not even come close to achieving their goal of creating zero waste. As of now, they have " worked with one of [their] toy suppliers to help them reduce packaging on 16 items. As a result, [they] were able to use 230 fewer shipping containers to distribute their products, saving about 356 barrels of oil and 1,300 trees. By broadening this initiative to 255 items, [they] expect to save 1,000 barrels of oil, 3,800 trees and millions of dollars in transportation costs"(walmartstores.com). Though this seems impressive, it's not! Walmart is one of the biggest and most influential corporations in America. If they were really concerned with the waste that they were creating, they would pull some strings and get more than 16 of their toy suppliers to help them reduce packaging. 


As strong and popular a corporation as Walmart is, I feel that they could definitely take some longer strides in the race to making our environment a cleaner and safer place. 




References:  http://walmartstores.com/Sustainability/9191.aspx

Moving Forward

As the title of this blog and the slogan of Toyota Motor Sales indicates, Toyota definitely is moving forward, and in more ways than one.

Toyota developed the Toyota Hybrid System in 1995, but didn't introduce the Prius, Toyota's first hybrid car, in the U.S. until 2000. Since then, Toyota has sold over one million hybrids to people in the U.S. Their website says, "The 2010 Prius contains parts made from plant-derived, carbon-neutral plastics" and that these new plastics "emit less CO2 during a product lifecycle than plastics made solely from petroleum" (toyota.com). They have also introduced a new program called the Toyota Certified Used Program to make renting and leasing hybrids more affordable. 

One of Toyota's major concerns is to make their products more energy efficient and environment friendly not only while they are in use, but also through disposal. Currently, their End of Life Vehicle (ELV) recycling/recovery rate is over 90%, but they hope for it to rise to 95% by 2015 (toyota.com). Their researchers and biotech engineers are developing next-generation batteries and second-generation biodiesel fuel to aid in the pursuit of a greener environment. They have already developed more efficient methods of producing ethanol from wood waste rather than food crops and are researching ways to use solar power and other sources of clean energy along with biofuels to make cars that produce zero carbon dioxide emissions (toyota.com). Toyota is also marketing a flex-fuel vehicle that can run on up to 100% biofuel.

With the strides that Toyota is taking to help our environment, it comes as no surprise that their dealerships and manufacture plants have received numerous LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) awards throughout the years. With leaders like Toyota, it has become easy to envision a better environment.