White Paper: Financial Risks of Investments in Coal

The White Paper demonstrates that these risks combine to make current and future investments in coal-dependent utilities and coal mining companies exceedingly precarious.

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      EnergyAs You SowCoal
      Sourcing Framework for Food and Food Packaging Products Containing Nanomaterials

      As You Sow’s first-of-its-kind framework is designed to help food companies make informed decisions regarding sourcing products containing nanomaterials.

       

       

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        Proxy Preview 2011

        Proxy Preview 2011 is the seventh edition of an annual report than in 2008 the Chicago Tribune called the “Bible for socially progressive foundations, religious groups, pension funds, and tax-exempt organizations.”

        It is a comprehensive review of the nearly 400 social and environmental resolutions investors filed in 2011.

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        Waste & Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report

        Waste & Opportunity 2011 is based primarily on responses to As You Sow’s Beverage Container Recycling Survey. The Survey was sent to 45 companies, double the number of the 2008 report, and includes beverage companies, grocery manufacturers with private label beverage brands, fast food restaurant chains, and packaged food companies.

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          Best Current Practices in Purchasing: The Apparel Industry

          For the past 15 years, many apparel companies have been actively monitoring their supply chains. Throughout, the majority has looked to factory owners and managers to make changes in factory conditions and operations to comply with local laws and meet brand compliance requirements. To meet requirements, demands were placed on suppliers to increase wages, minimize excessive overtime hours, secure freedom of association, and improve health and safety systems for workers. Simultaneously, brands were dictating lower and lower prices for products. Increasing demand for products at lower prices frequently prevents suppliers from having the resources necessary to abide by the standards laid out in codes of conduct.

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            Human RightsAs You Sow
            Toward a Safe, Just Workplace: Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Programs

            “Toward a Safe, Just Workplace: Apparel Supply Chain Compliance Programs” provides a scorecard and report focus on company programs such as: factory auditing, remediation, continuous improvement, collaboration, company management accountability, and transparency. Participating companies include: WalMart Stores, Inc., Target Corp., Nordstrom Inc., The Gap Inc., and Levi Strauss & Co.

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              Human RightsAs You Sow
              Seeking Safer Packaging: Ranking Packaged Food Companies on BPA

              Nearly every canned food and beverage product on the market today contains a highly controversial chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), in its lining. BPA has been linked to serious diseases and has been the focus of increasing consumer concern and regulatory restrictions. As investors, As You Sow and Green Century Capital Management (Green Century) believe companies may face financial risks from the presence of BPA in product packaging and should act quickly to eliminate the chemical to help protect shareholder value and preserve company reputations.

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                Proxy Preview 2010

                This sixth edition of Proxy Preview focused on helping investors align their values with their investments.

                It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                  Seeking Safer Packaging: Ranking Packaged Food Companies on BPA

                  Seeking Safer Packaging, published in April 2009, ranks food and beverage companies on their efforts to address BPA in their product packaging. Consumers, the media, and public officials alike are becoming increasingly concerned about bisphenol A (BPA), an endocrine-disrupting chemical used in hard clear plastic and can linings.

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                    Proxy Preview 2009

                    This fifth edition of Proxy Preview focused on helping investors align their values with their investments.

                    It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                      Proxy Preview 2008

                      This fourth edition of Proxy Preview focused on helping investors align their values with their investments.

                      It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                        Waste & Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report

                        The second edition of As You Sow’s beverage container recycling scorecard report evaluates new and ongoing efforts by beverage producers to:

                        1. reduce materials use
                        2. increase recycled content in containers
                        3. raise recovery and recycling rates
                        4. support public policy initiatives to increase container recycling rates
                        5. disclose such activities to stakeholders
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                          Proxy Preview 2007

                          This third edition of Proxy Preview focused on helping investors align their values with their investments.

                          It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                            Proxy Preview 2006

                            This second edition of Proxy Preview focused on helping investors align their values with their investments.

                            It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                              Waste & Opportunity: U.S. Beverage Container Recycling Scorecard and Report

                              Every year in the U.S. nearly 200 billion beverage containers are sold, two-thirds of which are landfilled, incinerated or littered. Increased recycling efforts have been unable to match increases in beverage sales, resulting in a decline in beverage container recycling rates from 53.5% in 1992 to 33.5% in 2004. Containers and packaging form the largest segment of municipal solid waste and beverage containers comprise nearly 15% of all packaging. Beverage bottles and cans are not only among the most recyclable but also the most economically valuable materials in the municipal waste stream. Replacing these cans and bottles with new containers made from virgin materials consumes large amounts of energy, water and other natural resources.

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                                Project Kaleidoscope: A Collaborative and Dynamic Approach to Code of Conduct Compliance

                                McDonald’s Corp.Walt Disney Co., and a group of organizations working to improve working conditions in company supply chains, including As You Sow, announced the release of a report on Project Kaleidoscope, a multi-year collaborative project designed to promote sustained compliance with labor standards mandated by corporate codes of conduct for manufacturers.

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                                  Monsanto & Genetic Engineering: Risk for Investors

                                  The controversy over genetically modified food has the potential to result in large-scale market and consumer backlash, which together pose material risks for investors of companies using GMOs. These material risks include the potential for financial liability if their company’s products result in environmental or health problems.

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                                    Proxy Preview 2005

                                    This first edition of Proxy Preview launched the publication dedicated to helping investors align their values with their investments.

                                    It provides an overview of upcoming votes on environmental and social shareholder resolutions—including advocacy sections for the year’s most prominent issues.

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                                      Unlocking the Power of the Proxy

                                      Unlocking the Power of the Proxy walks readers through the myriad issues relating to proxy voting, from the roles played by various entities such as investment managers and public pensions to definitions of key terms and a discussion of related legal issues.

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                                      Risky Business: Financial Risks that Genetically Engineered Foods Pose to Kraft Foods, Inc. and Shareholders

                                      The controversy over genetically modified food has the potential to result in large-scale market and consumer backlash, which together pose material risks for investors of companies using GMOs. These material risks include the potential for financial liability if their company’s products result in environmental or health problems.

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