WASTE NOT -
UK grocery giant Tesco has announced a new scheme to mitigate food waste, where surplus food from its stores is redistributed to people in need.Tesco has partnered with UK food redistribution charity FareShare and Irish social enterprise FoodCloud to trial the FareShare FoodCloud app in the UK. Tesco has already been working in different areas of the supply chain to tackle food waste — including through its existing partnership with FareShare — and this new scheme will mean eliminating the need to throw away food in Tesco stores that could otherwise be eaten.
WASTE NOT -
Anheuser-Busch InBev today announced it achieved a water use ratio of 3.2 hectoliters per hectoliter of production from 2013 to 2014, which the company says makes it the most water-efficient brewer in the world.This resulted in saving the equivalent of the amount of water it takes to make more than 4 billion cans of beers.In addition to the work done within its brewery walls, the company says it also engages in a comprehensive water stewardship program, including watershed protection measures in brewery communities facing water stress and working with barley growers to obtain the most "crop per drop." The efforts aim to improve the quality and quantity of available water for all users.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
On Wednesday, over an intimate, invite-only lunch at SB ’15 San Diego, Timberland and the Smallholder Farmers Alliance (SFA) screened the trailer for their documentary, KOMBIT: The Cooperative, scheduled for release in October 2015.KOMBIT means “pulling together” in Haitian Creole. Timberland says this is the perfect description of the partnership among local Haitians, as well as its work with them and SFA to rebuild the island nation’s environmental and economic landscape through small-scale farming.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
AECOM, Van Alen Institute and 100 Resilient Cities (100RC) on Wednesday launched a new ideas competition calling on multidisciplinary teams of students worldwide to identify risks to urban food, energy or water systems and offer strategies that make these systems more efficient, equitable and accessible to diverse populations.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Coca-Cola Company today unveiled the world’s first PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant materials at the World Expo — Milan.PlantBottle packaging is Coca-Cola’s vision to develop a more responsible plant-based alternative to packaging traditionally made from fossil fuels and other non-renewable materials. PlantBottle packaging uses patented technology that converts natural sugars found in plants into the ingredients for making PET plastic bottles. The packaging looks, functions and recycles like traditional PET but has a lighter footprint on the planet and its scarce resources.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
If Tuesday’s SB’15 San Diego plenaries are any indication of the breadth and depth of sustainability work occurring across industries around the world, we can safely say that there’s a whole lot going on.
Attendees of Tuesday’s plenaries heard from a diverse group of presenters who explored topics as varied as brand-building, closed loops, technology, sustainable condoms (that’s right), ecosystem services, sufficiency economies and celebrity influencers.
WASTE NOT -
On the opening afternoon of SB ’15 San Diego, a much-anticipated workshop on reducing food waste — featuring Sally Uren, Chief Executive of Forum for the Future, and Raphael Bemporad, Chief Strategy Officer for BBMG — provided an interactive and enthusiastic forum on the subject, engaging audience members from all sectors for both personal and professional reasons.Bemporad began by reminding everyone that to make lasting change we need a better understanding of the human heart as it relates to sustainability and particularly food.
PRESS RELEASE -
Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today announced a collaboration with Campbell Soup Company and its subsidiary, Pepperidge Farm, Incorporated, to improve water quality and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by optimizing fertilizer use and improving soil conservation in the company’s wheat sourcing areas.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
With the SB Innovation Open finals taking place this week at SB ’15 San Diego, we wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the amazing sustainable startups competing this year. From cricket-powered cookies to an app that helps you get the most from your purchases, this year’s crop of SBIO semi-finalists are set to revolutionize their respective industries (see part 1).
WASTE NOT -
Organic matter produced during brewing and coffee roasting processes is becoming a farming and gardening staple as an effective, low-cost alternative to commercial fertilizer and feed for a growing contingent of farmers and gardeners in Maine, according to the Bangor Daily News.As more of the state’s ubiquitous microbreweries are finding ways to make their operations more sustainable, they’ve realized repurposing their spent grains as fertilizers eliminates waste, while simultaneously benefitting local farms and gardens.
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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
With the SB Innovation Open finals taking place in just one week at SB ’15 San Diego, we wanted to give you a glimpse of some of the amazing sustainable startups competing this year. From saving paper with invisible ink to an “Expedia for restaurateurs,” this year’s crop of SBIO semi-finalists are set to revolutionize their respective industries.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
In a landmark move last week, France's parliament voted to forbid major supermarkets from destroying unsold food, encouraging them to donate to charities or to farms for animal feed, as part of a national campaign against food waste; an estimated that up to 66 pounds of food are wasted per person each year. The French government announced in 2012 that it wants to reduce food waste by 50 percent by 2025.The amendment, unanimously approved Thursday by the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, is part of a larger environmental bill. The overall bill will go to a vote Tuesday in the Assembly, then goes to the Senate, and is likely to pass in both houses.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Today, Walmart announced a commitment to improving farmed animal welfare across its global food supply chain with one of the most comprehensive animal welfare policies of its kind. The change in policy comes after six hidden-camera videos taken by animal welfare group Mercy For Animals (MFA) at Walmart pork suppliers across the country exposed extreme animal abuse.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Sustainable-minded beer lovers rejoice because a new UK-based microbrewery called Bucks Star plans to use solar power to make its beer.The startup says the ingredients, the brewing process and the energy source to run its machinery are all focused on “freshness and sustainability.” All of its beers will be handmade to boot.To get its operation off the ground, the startup is crowdsourcing both funds and ideas for beer recipes. It has launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise £2,800 ($4,350 USD).
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Sonoma County, Calif.-based Jackson Family Wines is among the first winemakers to install Tesla Energy’s new energy-storage technology and currently one of Tesla’s largest installations: An early strategic collaborator in the development of the technology, JFW already has 21 Tesla stationary storage systems in place at its Kendall-Jackson winery and others.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
MillerCoors’ Trenton Brewery in Ohio will now also produce fish and animal feed.Thanks to a partnership with biotech company Nutrinsic, wastewater from MillerCoors’ beer-making process will now enter Nutrinsic’s sustainable protein production facility co-located at the brewery’s Water Reclamation Facility. The biotech company says the wastewater will become a feedstock for ProFloc™, a high-quality protein ingredient for use in fish and animal nutrition. ProFloc is produced using patented technology that upcycles nutrients that would otherwise be undervalued or discarded, making it a sustainable protein source for all types of aquatic and terrestrial animal feeds.
PRESS RELEASE -
CHICAGO, May 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Coors Light has been refreshing beer drinkers since 1978. This summer, The World's Most Refreshing Beer also wants to refresh the Great Lakes.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Beekeepers across the United States lost more than 40 percent of their honey bee colonies during the year spanning April 2014 to April 2015, according to the latest results of an annual nationwide survey led by a University of Maryland professor.While winter loss rates improved slightly compared to last year, summer losses and total annual losses were more severe. Commercial beekeepers were hit hardest by the high rate of summer losses, which surpassed winter losses for the first time in five years, intensifying concerns over the long-term trend of poor health in honey bee colonies.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
The International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (IARD), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to addressing the global public health issue of harmful drinking, today launched ResponsibleDrinking.org. The consumer-friendly website provides easily accessible information about key issues related to drinking and will be promoted on the packaging of alcoholic beverages of the dozen signatory brands — including Bacardi, Diageo, Heineken, Molson Coors and more.