PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
FoodBytes! — the global pitch competition/networking event by Rabobank, a premier global food and agribusiness bank, has announced the 20 food and ag startups that will get a chance to pitch their ideas at the inaugural FoodBytes! London in September.
PRESS RELEASE -
3,890. That’s the number of wild tigers left in the world today. Compared to 100,000 wild tigers that roamed the earth just a century ago, the massive 96% decline is beyond startling. With illegal tiger trade, poaching and habitat loss threatening the majestic species’ extinction, Tiger Beer knew they had to step in. The tiger is more than a logo for Asia’s leading premium lager, it’s a symbol of strength, courage and beauty. Last year, Tiger Beer embarked on a 6-year partnership with World Wildlife Fund (WWF) to bring global awareness to the plight of the wild tiger and to support the organization’s ambitious tiger conservation efforts.
PRESS RELEASE -
Loop Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:LOOP), a global leader in sustainable packaging innovation, announced that it has signed a Letter of Intent with L’Oréal Group, the global leader in the beauty industry setting the stage for L’Oréal to become the first major cosmetics company in the world to close the loop on their PET plastic packaging by incorporating Loop™ PET.
This collaboration between L’Oréal Group and Loop will further accelerate the transition to the circular plastic economy. Thanks to Loop’s breakthrough technology, waste PET plastic and polyester fiber that once made its way to landfills, incinerators and our shared natural areas, rivers and oceans can now be diverted and converted into Loop™ PET to be endlessly upcycled.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
To understand, and report on, an organization’s carbon footprint is a complex undertaking — to say the least.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Amazon has launched a new challenge to reward developers of Alexa skills that have a positive impact on the environment, local communities and the world.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
A process that turns wood pulp into yarn and a vegan wool alternative made from hemp and coconut fibers have respectively earned a spot in Fashion for Good’s Scaling Programme and a prize in the 2018 Biodesign Challenge.
CLEANTECH -
What will ultimately push fossil fuels back the way of the dinosaur? Purely and simply, is it our ethics and our resolve as consumers and brands that will end our dependence on dirty energy.
The response to Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement — in which business and civic leaders vowed to continue working towards clean energy, anyway — is easily part of the mix. The response demonstrated a deep level of commitment.
PRESS RELEASE -
Columbia University and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new Center devoted to research, education, and innovation in blockchain technology and data transparency. To advance compelling new ways to apply blockchain and help address growing demands around data transparency, the Center will also include an innovation accelerator to incubate business ideas from entrepreneurial students, faculty and members of the startup community.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The Liverpool City Council is committed to becoming the first climate-positive authority in the world by the end of 2018, through a groundbreaking partnership with the nonprofit Poseidon Foundation, in a bid to make Liverpool the world’s first climate-positive city by the end of 2020.
NEW METRICS -
What we at Sustainable Brands call “New Metrics” allow businesses to quantify previously ignored risks, costs and revenue potential associated with sustainability impacts. Smart executives use #NewMetrics to understand the full picture of their companies’ interactions with the rest of the world, improve stakeholder relationships, and steer innovation toward the products and services of the future.
The field has evolved steadily and produced many significant milestones over the past decade. Below are three big trends businesses need to be on top of if they want to gain early-mover advantages and maximize the respective upside that awaits.
COLLABORATION -
States, regions, cities and international business are uniting to use their purchasing and policy influence to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) around the world through a new Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Challenge, launched today.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Sugar has been a hot topic the past few years due to artificial and natural sweeteners entering the market and growing concerns about obesity and children’s health. The U.S.
PRESS RELEASE -
UPS’s 16th annual Sustainability Report highlights the company’s sustainability challenges and accomplishments during 2017, including progress toward its 2020 and 2025 goals in support of the environment, global workforce, and communities around the world. The report also showcases investments in cutting-edge technologies that are advancing UPS’s integrated network to new levels of efficiency and creating tangible sustainability benefits.
UPS’s 2017 sustainability highlights include:
CLEANTECH -
A new global challenge aims to find and scale new technologies capable of reducing a ship’s gross carbon dioxide emissions by ten percent. Businesses and entrepreneurs with a product in need of commercial assessment, testing, investment and scaling are invited to apply to participate in the “CO2 Challenge,” launched by Cargill in partnership with DNV GL and Rainmaking.
NEW METRICS -
From remote sensors to digital field mapping, information technology (IT) is rapidly becoming a part of day-to-day farm management. When a state-of-the-art cotton picker, for example, records crop yield and moisture every few seconds, along with the GPS coordinates of the machine, that data can be analyzed against water and fertilizer applications — or other farm practices — to determine optimal growing conditions. Technology also can enable reporting up and down the agricultural value chain of all farm practices and conservation metrics associated with a particular field.
PRESS RELEASE -
At 3M, we use science every day to improve lives and help solve society’s toughest challenges. We like to imagine a world where all communities are safe, healthy and thriving—where increased energy efficiency, reduced greenhouse gas emissions and access to clean air and water enhance human health at home and at work. Still, nearly four in ten Americans currently live in counties with unhealthy levels of ground level ozone or particle pollution.¹ Since reducing air pollution remains critical to public health,² 3M is addressing this environmental challenge by creatively applying science to help remove smog³ and improve the air we breathe.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) and Globalia have announced the first worldwide competition for tourism startups. The UNWTO Tourism Startup Competition is accepting applications from entrepreneurs across 164 countries whose companies aim to transform tourism, whether their focus is on the future of travel, tourism experience, environmental impact or community development.
NEW METRICS -
Scotland remains one of the world’s leading nations on circular economy thinking — this year Glasgow will host the Circular Economy Hotspot, an international event and trade mission that will showcase the country’s progressive approach to materials and resource use.
COLLABORATION -
Fashion for Good and PVH Corp., one of the largest apparel companies in the world that owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, today announced their partnership to accelerate the transition towards a good fashion industry.