CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
What can cities do contribute to the sustainability revolution? A whole lot, according to a workshop today, opening morning of SB ’15, featuring Gil Friend, CSO of the City of Palo Alto, and Chris Guenther, Director of Research at think tank SustainAbility.The three-hour presentation and breakout discussion focused on leveraging municipal and corporate partnerships to advance sustainability goals around issues such as climate, water, utilities and mobility.
PRESS RELEASE -
Charlotte, N.C., May 27, 2015 /3BL Media/ – Sealed Air Corporation (NYSE: SEE), and its partner school, the Alfreton Grange Arts College, have been crowned the Fresher For Longer competition champions. Fresher For Longer, part of the UK’s national Love Food Hate Waste campaign, gave students in 10 secondary schools across England and Wales the chance to tackle food waste in their own school communities while learning the role packaging plays in preventing the problem. After a series of food waste workshops delivered by Global Action Plan, the 195 students designed and implemented their own food waste behavior change programs.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
As concerns over bulging landfills abound, a diverse and growing group of innovators across the country are looking for new ways to transform trash into something less wasteful.The Minnesota Twins and Eco-Products, for example, recently partnered to reduce the waste generated at Target Field through a new effort to divert fans' trash from the landfill by turning it into fertile soil.Eco-Products, which makes single use foodservice products made from renewable and recycled resources, is supplying hundreds of thousands of compostable cups, plates, trays, utensils and straws at Target Field. Virtually all packaging used at Target Field will be either compostable or recyclable, the company says.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Survey data indicates that, compared to older generations, younger generations are more supportive of environmental legislation and the notion that global climate change is the result of human activity, yet are simultaneously less likely to recycle or recognize the benefits of recycling. This is a disparity we should all be concerned with, as these are the individuals that will one day become our future social entrepreneurs, conscious consumers, and environmental activists.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
More and more companies are beginning to acknowledge the importance of water stewardship to the longevity of their operations, regardless of industry. Consumer-facing brands can have added impact — and have added responsibility — to engage their customers on this critical issue, as well.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
In 2012, we launched the Think Big Blueprint, our first sustainability plan that set big, ambitious goals that we hoped would transform our role in the world around us. We set three goals and 40 commitments, and gave ourselves three years to achieve them.The idea at the heart of the Blueprint is that not only do we need to continuously improve our own social and environmental impacts, we also have a unique opportunity to inspire and enable millions of others to live more sustainable lives through our products and services.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
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.
PRESS RELEASE -
First Class, Chosen from Hundreds, Meets in San Francisco
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Just in time for graduation season, REPREVE recycled fibers will be used in Oak Hall graduation gowns at more than 1,100 colleges and universities across the country.
Since the introduction of REPREVE, nearly 60 million plastic bottles have been recycled into Oak Hall GreenWeaver gowns worn by more than 2.2 million students, the brand says. REPREVE is made from recycled materials, including plastic bottles, and each graduation gown is made from around 27 bottles.
During the spring 2015 graduation season alone, more than 300,000 students around the nation will graduate wearing Oak Hall REPREVE-based gowns, using more than 8 million recycled plastic bottles. Participating schools include Duke, Yale, University of Alabama and Notre Dame, to name a few.
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.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
San Diego is home to a robust surfing industry and now, thanks to a collaboration with UC San Diego’s biology and chemistry students, the city is also home to the world’s first algae-based surfboard.
The prototype was publicly introduced last week to San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer at San Diego Symphony Hall, where he hosted the premiere of the National Geographic “World’s Smart Cities: San Diego” documentary. The program, which features innovations from UC San Diego, is scheduled to air April 25 and May 2 on the National Geographic Channel.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
To coincide with Earth Day, the New York City Council, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) and Global Kids held a joint press conference this morning on the steps of New York City Hall to push for statewide climate education for K-12 schools in New York. Resolution 0375-2014 calls for climate education to be included in the New York State school curriculum and it currently has 21 of the 26 needed sponsors to pass.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Woolworths CEO Ian Moir announced a partnership with Grammy Award-winning musician, record producer and philanthropist Pharrell Williams last week. The collaboration is the first of its kind for a South African retailer.Williams will become the new Style Director in a groundbreaking collaboration across a series of sustainability-focused projects. The strategic partnership is grounded in the shared values of Williams and Woolworths.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Hershey Company announced on Tuesday that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa in 2016 to surpass the amount of cocoa required for the global production of four of its most popular chocolate brands: Hershey's, Kisses, Kit Kat and BrooksideThe chocolate company also has pledged that it will source enough certified and sustainable cocoa to add the global Reese’s brand and others to these first four brands in 2017.Reaching this responsible sourcing milestone was possible due to progress in sourcing cocoa from certified and sustainable cocoa farms, Hershey says.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
A new report released today from Arizona State University indicates that the development of online education programs can be a significant component of an institution’s sustainability strategy, based on greater socioeconomic impact for a smaller environmental footprint per degree.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Innovation often comes from those who have not yet become entrenched in the status quo — they are better-positioned to recognize effective solutions that might otherwise be overlooked or seen as too as too radical by the already-initiated.This is doubly true when it comes to innovating for the “circular economy,” which is quickly moving from the fringe to the forefront of sustainable business thought. It is the idea that today’s take-make-waste consumption patterns should be eschewed for a more restorative process, where products are designed and marketed with reuse in mind.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
This is the final question from a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability research centers at six top business schools.Through Georgia Tech’s new QEP (Quality Enhancement Program), we will develop very deep educational partnerships with a few key institutions, be those NGOs or local government or corporations.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
This is the fifth of six questions from a roundtable discussion with the directors of sustainability research centers at six top business schools.So there are a couple different ways that we support the research process as an Initiative.One is that we bring in funding and then disperse it to faculty for research on sustainability. We’ve done that with some corporate funding, as well as philanthropic individual donors or foundations. We put out those calls for proposals, and it helps us to identify who among the faculty is doing research and sustainability.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
In Fall of 2013, Dell launched what it called its Legacy of Good plan — a set of 21 ambitious sustainability goals covering everything from its packaging and production materials to reducing the energy intensity of its entire product portfolio by 80 percent.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
If the ideal business has sustainability embedded throughout, why not embed the same lens throughout an MBA program?That’s what faculty members had in mind for the Sustainable MBA program at Duquesne University’s Palumbo Donahue School of Business.