COLLABORATION -
Mars, McDonald’s, Staples and several other companies have signed on to support the American Forest Foundation (AFF), GreenBlue, the US Forest Service and Esri in the development of a
WALKING THE TALK -
As food supply chains grow more complex, consumers are setting higher expectations for food quality, safety and sustainability as they seek more aspirational choices around what they eat. But food scares continue to happen, one of the most famous being the horse meat scandal in 2013.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Everyone’s gotta eat – and it makes for a big industry. Globally, food and agriculture is a $7.8 trillion industry. Its also growing (pun intended): global investments in the food and agriculture sector have grown three-fold since 2004 and, according to McKinsey, on average have demonstrated higher returns to shareholders than other sectors. In the US, agriculture, food and related industries generated 5.5% of the country’s GDP at $992 billion, $137 billion of that coming directly from US farms.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3), a multi-stakeholder collaborative that drives the commercial adoption of sustainable chemistry, has selected the 10 startups that have won the opportunity to pitch their sustainable chemicals, materials, products and manufacturing technologies to large, strategic companies at the GC3’s 3rd Annual Green & Bio-Based Chemistry Technology Showcase & Networking Event.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Imagine buying a pair of shoes and being able to address the carbon emissions from those shoes’ production and transportation right when you buy them. To date, this hasn’t been possible: We didn’t have blockchain to immutably and transparently track the carbon; point-of-sale integrations were cumbersome, and the carbon market has only worked in tonnes while a pair of shoes is around 12kg of carbon.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
A team of students from North Dakota State University took the top prize last week at 3M’s Disruptive Design Challenge in St. Paul, Minnesota.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
For the second year, Fast Company is celebrating businesses, policies, and nonprofits that are poised help shift society to a more sustainable and more equitable future with its World Changing Ideas Awards. From melted down guns to nitrogen-producing microbes, there’s quite a bit of variety among 2018’s twelve winners.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
By 2020, the market for “green” chemistry is expected to reach $100 billion globally, with North America seeing an increase from $3 billion to over $20 billion during the same period. This growth, essential to the future of our planet, is a sign that the industry is engaged in much-needed change. Today, 8.3 percent of all deaths and 5.7 percent of the total burden of disease worldwide are related to chemical exposure.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
As much hype as cryptocurrencies and digital tokens are getting these days, their real-world, practical uses remain few and far between. But one Vancouver-based organization, The Plastic Bank, is working to exchange plastic waste for digital currency in some of the world’s poorest places.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
When you hear the word “cryptocurrency,” what’s the first thing that springs to mind? For many of us, it’s Bitcoin — the original, most highly valued, and most widely discussed cryptocurrency. And for many of us who care about conserving energy and innovating with sustainable solutions to climate change, Bitcoin isn’t exactly a household brand.
PRESS RELEASE -
Lenexa, Kan. (April 4, 2018)—Farm Journal Media’s Trust In Food™ platform (www.TrustInFood.com) has been named a media partner of SB’18 Vancouver. The global flagship conference of Sustainable Brands will take place June 4–7 at the Vancouver Convention Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia. Along with other media partners of the conference, including Scientific American and Innovation & Tech Today, Trust In Food™ will provide its growing audience of food-system leaders with news and insights from the experts and businesses putting sustainability first in food, agriculture, technology and other industries.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
This year has already seen some great steps forward in the uphill battle against fashion and textile waste: industry agreements and action plans have been announced; sustainable fashion startups are receiving support from the Fashion for Good-Plug and Play Accelerator and the Nike Circular Innovation Challenge; and collaborations have produced a
CLEANTECH -
Many corporate leaders committed to supply chain sustainability are waiting for a full range of electric vehicles to hit the market to achieve zero emissions from their heavy-duty truck fleets. But there’s no need to wait: With a new model natural gas engine now in commercial production, fleets can meet their heaviest-duty needs using carbon-negative renewable natural gas (RNG) in near-zero-emission natural gas trucks.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Plastics and packaging are ubiquitous and leading to major problems both for waste management and ocean pollution. While many companies are committing to reduce or eliminate single-use plastics, there is still a lot of work to do on all fronts.
CLEANTECH -
In Henry Ford’s day, there was no term for environmentalist. But he had a goal of zero waste to landfill, just as we do today, based on his belief that nothing should be wasted.
Those values still hold true at Ford.
Currently, conversation is underway on setting the near-term standards for fuel economy. It is a critical one for all of us who care about the environment and our customers, and we all need to work together to ensure there is a win on both fronts.
PRESS RELEASE -
Cisco is receiving the 2018 AT&T* Supplier Award for its outstanding performance and service to AT&T affiliates during the past year.
The company is being recognized for its outstanding contributions across a broad scope of selection criteria, including supplier diversity results, creative cost management solutions, teamwork, customer service, product/service performance and sustainability.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The team behind digital supply chain mapping platform Sourcemap has been busy. Their latest projects aim to bring a new level of transparency to two of the most notoriously difficult to track industries in the world: clothing and palm oil.
PRESS RELEASE -
In Henry Ford’s day, there was no term for environmentalist. But he had a goal of zero waste to landfill, just as we do today, based on his belief that nothing should be wasted.
Those values still hold true at Ford.
Currently, conversation is underway on setting the near-term standards for fuel economy. It is a critical one for all of us who care about the environment and our customers, and we all need to work together to ensure there is a win on both fronts.
Today, our planet faces increasing challenges, the implications of which are profound: greater congestion in cities, the rise of human population, climate change and all its implications. The cost of believing it is not real is just too high.
CLEANTECH -
UN Environment has awarded seed funding to twelve young people with business ideas on how to foster energy-efficient, low-waste and low-carbon lifestyles. Each of the winners of the Asia Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge will receive US$10,000 and mentorship to help bring their ideas to fruition.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Does cryptography hold the key to solving global social and environmental challenges? It certainly holds promise for some. Blockchain has become a hot topic recently, thanks to its variety of potential applications across supply chains, marketing, and more.