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How hot is the Sun?
Take shorter showers, do laundry at cooler temperatures and turn off the tap while brushing your teeth.
Those are messages the world’s biggest makers of shampoo, detergent and toothpaste have been pushing as they try to reduce carbon emissions linked to the use of their products.
While consumer-goods companies have touted their success in cutting emissions in offices and factories, they are struggling to reduce what they say is the biggest source of emissions associated with their products: consumer use.
The slow progress threatens companies’ ability to meet their voluntary targets to cut overall emissions and risks undermining broader environmental pledges that are increasingly a part of how they sell themselves to shoppers, investors and potential employees.
“The atmosphere does not recognize the difference in where emissions come from so we need to achieve reductions in all of these areas,” said Tim Letts, deputy director for climate and energy at the World Wide Fund for Nature, an environmental advocacy nonprofit. “Some will be harder to address, but it’s important companies are looking at these in their strategies.”
