ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
After my book, Hacking Happiness, was released last year, a lot of people got in touch wondering how they could help their employees get happier at work. My book focuses on how people should take a measure of their lives, utilizing emerging technology and positive psychology to increase their long-term wellbeing versus just their mood.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Today, the Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN) released a study measuring large cap company performance on a major human rights risk and ascertained the industries both leading and lagging when it comes to conflict minerals reporting.To conduct the pilot study for the report, Mining the Disclosures: An Investor Guide to Conflict Minerals Reporting, RSN worked with Sustainalytics, a leading provider of environmental, social and governance research, to develop a research tool that offers insights into the quality of corporate conflict minerals disclosures.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The DuPont Awards for Packaging Innovation are the industry's longest-running, global, independently judged recognition of innovation and collaboration throughout the packaging value chain. This year, a panel of experts evaluated almost 140 entries from over 25 countries and on Friday awarded one diamond winner, five gold winners and seven silver winners based on "excellence" in one, two or all three categories: technological advancement, responsible packaging and enhanced user experience."This year's winners … exemplify how collaboration, innovation and packaging excellence converge to generate game-changing solutions that positively impact our lives," said William J. Harvey, president of DuPont Packaging & Industrial Polymers.
CLEANTECH -
The United States leads the world in cleantech investments, patents, renewable energy generation and electric vehicle (EV) adoption, but still is slow to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new ranking by Next 10.Over the last two decades, however, the U.S. has become more energy productive, using less energy per dollar of GDP generated.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
The roadmap series details the Hagen-Wilhelm change matrix, a tool to accelerate adoption and maximize the benefits of sustainable business thinking. This model builds on the work of many thinkers, leaders and researchers who have identified five stages that companies pass through on the way from today’s conventional thinking (Phase I) to a more sustainable future where business thrives by solving some of the world’s biggest problems.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Facebook announced new benefits for its contract workers this week; the company will require contractors to pay employees a $15 minimum wage and provide benefits, including 15 paid days off and $4,000 paid parental leave.“Taking these steps is the right thing to do for our business and our community,” COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote in the post.Facebook’s decision is indicative of two important trends affecting the modern workplace: the proliferation of the 1099 economy and the growing pressure on companies to better compensate contractors.
CLEANTECH -
From sustainability consultants to environmental compliance professionals, and from emissions or waste monitoring specialists to Vice Presidents of Sustainability, the challenge is the same: to tell their story. Perhaps the most difficult — and arguably the most important — part of their job is communicating: communicating with the media, with their executive team and in-house decision-makers, with professional partners, and with the general public.
WASTE NOT -
Nestlé is investing in technology to help reduce the amount of water it uses in California at the five water bottling plants and four facilities where food or petcare products are manufactured.Work is underway to transform the Nestlé milk factory in the city of Modesto into a ‘zero water’ factory, meaning the plant will not use any local freshwater resources for its operations.The project is expected to save nearly 63 million gallons of water each year, equivalent to 71 percent of absolute withdrawals in 2014. Around $7 million has been invested in the project, which is due to be completed by the end of 2016, the company says.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
AT&T sees vast opportunity for mobile technology to enable sustainable lifestyles and the efficient use of resources. Did you forget to turn off the heat when leaving the house? No problem; we are long past the days when the devices in our pockets were used primarily as phones.Ahead of his presentation at SB’15 San Diego next month, we asked John Schulz, Director of Sustainability Operations at AT&T, about the company’s sustainability goals, its new Eco-Rating system, and its millennial workforce.
WASTE NOT -
Three Purdue students and a graduate have launched a startup called Atlas Energy Systems, that has found a way to turn nuclear waste into its own source of energy, according to The Purdue Exponent. The project that started in an apartment as a prototype held together with Scotch tape has gone on to win the Indiana Clean Energy Challenge.
CLEANTECH -
The Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI) has published its new Conflict Minerals Reporting Template (CMRT 4.0), a multi-industry tool designed to facilitate transfer of information throughout the supply chain in support of conflict-free sourcing. It includes an updated Standard Smelter List and numerous translation improvements.
PRESS RELEASE -
First Class, Chosen from Hundreds, Meets in San Francisco
PRESS RELEASE -
A sustainable world is one in which communities, businesses and economies thrive and people live better, fuller lives.AT&T plays a pivotal role by delivering fast, secure and mobile connectivity to everything on the Internet – everywhere, at every moment and on every device.We're working to build smarter energy systems and to help cities and utility companies leverage the Internet of Things to better manage their infrastructures. And we're working with auto manufactures to make driving a vehicle safer and more efficient. All these collaborations use the power of connectivity to better manage resources such as energy, water and fuel and, in the process, help make people's lives better.
WASTE NOT -
Spring cleaning this year just got a little easier: On Saturday, May 2nd, donating old clothes will be a breeze thanks to a partnership between Goodwill and Uber. Donors can open the Uber app on Saturday, select the GIVE option at the bottom of the screen and request a pickup for their donations to be delivered directly to their local Goodwill, free of charge.
PRESS RELEASE -
By: Nicole AndersonThrough technology, we’re able to deliver educational content to more people, in more places, no matter their background. With new tools emerging every day, it’s an exciting time to be involved in this field and to work for a tech company that is helping to transform education.Through AT&T Aspire, we’ve committed $350 million to help students succeed in school and beyond. And we are always looking for new ways to engage our network, employees and collaborators to improve learning.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Having racked up over 10,000 deliveries and 30,000 members in its Scandinavian motherland since its 2013 launch, Norwegian social delivery service Nimber is set to plug a sustainability gap in the UK delivery sector, making use of unused capacity by using real people who are going somewhere anyway to make deliveries.The company estimates that to date its service has helped cut carbon emissions by 198.24 tonnes through the use of existing capacity to bring and send items to individuals and businesses.
CLEANTECH -
Rapidly falling costs and clear benefits have led to a sharp increase in the number and scale of light-emitting diode (LED) and smart streetlight projects in the past year, according to a new study published today by Northeast Group.There currently are more than 2,000 LED and smart streetlight projects globally. By 2025, cities around the world will invest $64 billion in LED and “smart” streetlights.
CLEANTECH -
Aquion Energy, Inc., developer and manufacturer of Aqueous Hybrid Ion (AHI™) batteries and energy-storage systems, has announced that its AHI S20 and S20-P Product Lines are the first batteries in the world to be Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Certified™ Bronze. The product lines were evaluated by MBDC, creators of the Cradle to Cradle Certified Products Program, across five quality categories.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
When Airbnb and Uber burst on the scene a few years ago the business world was abuzz with the potential for a new “sharing economy.”Advocates explained how these services would provide people with new ways of making money by utilizing their homes and vehicles to their full potential, while offering a service that could save energy, reduce waste and bring communities together by sharing their resources and time.
CLEANTECH -
With Earth Day this week, it’s a great time to reflect on the challenges we face and the advancements we’ve made. Last week, Microsoft released a whitepaper describing the progress made with our carbon fee since its inception in the hope to inspire other organizations to take similar action.