Americans Could Reduce Emissions 15% Through Simple Actions.—reliability high.
"Two new studies highlight the disparity between what the public can do, and wants to do, to address energy issues and carbon emissions resulting from lifestyles. An analysis released by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) finds that Americans can reduce U.S. carbon pollution by 15%--or one billion tons of global warming pollution--through collective personal actions that require little to no cost. Suggested behavioral changes in the study include: reducing unwanted catalog subscriptions, decreasing vehicle idling, using a programmable thermostat, replacing seven lightbulbs with CFLs, setting computers to hibernate mode, shutting off unused lights, and eating poultry in place of red meat two days per week. All of the recommendations offered in the study are available to be adopted immediately, at little or no cost, and will reduce not only emissions, but home energy, transportation and food costs as well." More about consumer attitudes toward energy conservation. Story at Sustainable Business News. Summary of Garrison Institute program here.

Green procurement set to become the norm.—reliability high.
"Suppliers to the public and private sector will see their competitiveness diminish over the next few years if they fail to provide customers with information on their carbon footprint and evidence that they are improving their environmental sustainability. That is the stark warning from a group of procurement experts speaking at a roundtable event hosted yesterday by the Carbon Trust Standard, who predicted that the number of organisations adopting demanding sustainable procurement criteria will only increase. The trend is particularly apparent within the public sector, where the launch 18 months ago of a Centre of Expertise in Sustainable Procurement within the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) has led to an overhaul of government procurement policies." From BusinessGreen.

Green Procurement Can Deliver Significant Business Benefits.—reliability medium.
"Results of studies presented by SMI and BrainNet showed that green procurement is not only a driver for a sustainable transformation of processes in many companies, but a factor with a direct and positive impact on the success of a company. ... One study  by SMI analyzed procurement managers' 'willingness to pay' to avoid corruption and ensure social and ecological sustainability. The results revealed that one of the most important drivers of sustainability in procurement is not training, but a functioning system of sanctions where sustainable procurement is rewarded and non-sustainable procurement is penalized." More highlights of the studies and of conference. See 2Sustain. PDF of summary.