INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Imagine a marketplace where you can buy — or not buy — products and services that accelerate social innovation by redefining the capitalist narrative; a place where you can purchase or sell “goods for good” from companies or to consumers around the world. Look no further come February 12, when the COMMON Marketplace makes its official debut.Developed by COMMON, the world’s first “collaborative brand” made up of a community of creative and business professionals, the organization says the new online marketplace is a place where “goods for good” can be bought and sold. In order to sell on the Marketplace, companies must apply and meet a set of design, sustainability and collaborative criteria.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
BioLite uses revenues from outdoor recreation products such as the CampStove to incubate products for emerging markets, most prominently the HomeStove. It's a market-based approach to addressing poverty, one that generates self-sustaining energy access as well as health- and time-saving benefits.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
With the holidays fast approaching, many of us are scrambling to make last-minute purchases for friends and family. As items cross the check-out counter, products enter our lives carrying with them a chemical footprint that is often overlooked. While no overarching labeling scheme reveals the chemical makeup of most products, we can cheer some inspiring activity moving us toward toxin-free consumer products in the future. We may not see immediate changes in product chemistry this holiday season, but there is reason to hold onto hope for next year’s shopping list.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
The Plastic Disclosure Project sees an influential need for companies to start disclosing their plastic footprint in order to create a benchmark for reduction by increasing recycling and adding value back into plastic use.
Last night on “60 Minutes,” Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos unveiled to Charlie Rose the company’s latest advancement in customer convenience — Amazon Prime Air, which will promise package delivery by tiny, unmanned drones that Bezos called "octocopters" within 30 minutes of order placement.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Greenpeace International tonight launched a report calling out a host of consumer products companies — including Colgate Palmolive, Mondelez International (formerly Kraft), Nestlé Oil, Procter & Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser and a host of other companies — as guilty by association for rainforest destruction in Indonesia, a crucial habitat region for the endangered Sumatran tiger.A License to Kill: How Deforestation for Palm Oil Is Driving Sumatran Tigers Toward Extinction links the companies to Singapore-based Wilmar International, the world’s largest palm oil processor, which accounts for over one-third of the global palm oil processing market and has a distribution network covering over 50 countries.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
What does it take to grow and profit in the immensely competitive household and personal products industry dominated by giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble? And how can sustainability be the lever that provides revenue growth and product differentiation?
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Abbott Laboratories last week rejected a proposal from shareholders to remove genetically modified organisms (GMOs) from its natural products, which includes its Similac baby formula. Biotech firm DuPont also defeated a resolution to disclose genetically engineered seeds.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Co-operative Group, Nestlé and Sainsbury’s say they will improve the sustainability performance of some of their products in response to research from the Product Sustainability Forum.The study, published by the Waste and Resources Action Program (WRAP), analyzed 50 grocery products with the biggest environmental impact and found that together they contribute between 21 and 33 percent of household greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Some of the products include such staples as bread, potatoes, bananas and milk.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Unilever, the UK’s largest deodorant manufacturer, unveiled a new product design that could make the category significantly more sustainable.
PRESS RELEASE -
New Brunswick, NJ (Sept. 26, 2012) – At today’s 2012 CleanMed Europe Conference, a research study was showcased revealing that increased global demand for more sustainable health care is driving the creation of “greener” products and purchasing guidelines among health care institutions.
Owners of Kindle e-readers now have the option to power their devices in a sunny window.
Advances in mobile technology could do away with some eco-labels as an increasing number of consumer products are given smart barcodes, says consultant group Organic Monitor.
Lowe's, the world’s second-largest home improvement retailer, announced it is entering the emerging smart energy market, with a system called Iris that allows home energy management, automation, and monitoring.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Earlier this year, P&G outlined a comprehensive framework for its leading brands to increase their positive impacts on society and the environment. But forest-conservation NGOs say they need less talk, more action when it comes to P&G's tissue products.