MARKETING AND COMMS -
With the announcement of the first synthetic burger grown in a petri dish, would it be more or less shocking to say “human waste is the currency of the future”? “Carbon footprints” and “data footprints” are carving the way for “microbial footprints.” Consumers are paying to get dirty … germ-dirty, that is. “Going viral" is taking on a whole new meaning in marketing. Online communities are flourishing around “intestine communities.” Brand ecosystems now have as much to do with biology as technology."Rotten" Is the New "Improved"
ICT AND BIG DATA -
Kraft Foods, General Mills and Monsanto are among the first to join the World Food LCA Database (WFLDB), which aims to develop a comprehensive database for food and beverage life cycle assessments (LCAs).
Launched last week by the Swiss Federal Research Station Agroscope and consulting firm Quantis, the project is expected to be completed by 2015.
A slew of funding partners have already come on board, including Mars, Nestlé, Mondelez International, Bayer, Syngenta and Yara. The French Environment and Energy Management and Swiss Federal Office for the Environment have also committed to the program. Agroscope and Quantis say they hope to continue to recruit additional companies and government agencies to join the project.
WASTE NOT -
A team of Hong Kong researchers has found a way to use ground-up circuit boards from discarded cell phones, computers and other gadgets to absorb toxic heavy metals found in water, according to Chemical & Engineering NewsEach year, around 20 to 50 million tons of electronic waste is produced worldwide, most of which is incinerated or dumped into landfills. Burning the plastic/metal combo in printed circuit boards releases toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans. In landfills, the metals on the circuit boards can contaminate groundwater.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Michael Murray is the president and co-founder of Lucid, a software company providing real-time information feedback designed to “teach, inspire behavior change, and save energy and water resources in buildings.” Since the company’s founding in 2004, over 275 schools and organizations have adopted Lucid’s Building Dashboard, which it describes as a social network for buildings that allows people to view, compare, and share resource usage data online.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
At the dawn of the 21st century, America’s spiraling energy consumption hijacks our democracy and gambles our planet’s future. Meanwhile, 50 million Americans live in poverty, while our government stalls behind party lines. Next spring a new documentary, The Spark, will reveal a blueprint for realistic, immediate solutions.
If you want to find hotbeds of innovation, just look where there’s tension and instability.Healthcare is a great example. On one hand, chronic conditions are spiraling out of control at the same dizzying rate as healthcare costs. On the other hand, there’s an unprecedented interest among citizens in taking control of their own health, working to stay well instead of waiting to get sick.
ICT AND BIG DATA -
As 3D printers are being used to make everything from pottery to human tissue, the domestic manufacturing industry is evolving into something new and robust. As manufacturing begins to step into a growth phase, we examine the brands Stratasys and Organovo and take a closer look at what the introduction of their products means to the marketplace.There is no shortage of areas that were crippled by the financial crisis, and United States manufacturing ranks high on that list. Production jobs were already fleeing overseas in favor of inexpensive labor in the mid-2000s, and the combination of the domestic consumer recession and a burst of Chinese market dominance only amplified the situation.
In a webinar this morning, Ford’s Global Director of Sustainability & Vehicle Environmental Matters John Viera and EVP & CFO Bob Shanks briefly outlined the company’s newly released 2012/13 Sustainability report.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
For the second year running, Toyota has topped Interbrand’s list of “Best Global Green Brands,” followed by Ford and Honda. Rounding out the rest of the top ten are Panasonic, Nissan, Johnson & Johnson, Volkswagen, Danone, Nokia and Dell. Overall, the technology sector clearly dominated.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
During last week’s SB’13 conference in San Diego, Havas Media unveiled new research that could provide further insight into the minds of consumers. Results released this week from Havas’ latest Meaningful Brands study statistically demonstrate that “meaningful brands” outperform the stock market by 120%. The Meaningful Brands Index (MBI) — Havas’ new metric of brand strength — is considered the first of its kind to connect human well-being with brands at a business level. It demonstrates the relationship correlation between people and brands, and how this can affect the volume of measuring, communicating and delivering increased well-being — on a personal and community level.
LEADERSHIP -
Apple CEO Tim Cook announced at the D: All Things Digital conference this weekthat he has hired former Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chief Lisa Jackson to head up the technology company’s environmental activities.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
In the final week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature daily articles introducing our semi-finalists. Today, meet LaborVoices.As an AAAS Science Policy Fellow for the U.S State Department’s Office of International Labor and Corporate Social Responsibility office, Dr. Kohl Gill was inspired to found LaborVoices while on a trade and labor delegation to Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
PRESS RELEASE -
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors, announced today that it has added Brooks Clark as Managing Editor of Shelton Insights, the agency’s soon-to-be-launched, web-based news service.
“This is an exciting move for us a company because we’re expanding our service offering and exploring more ways to share our insights,” said Suzanne Shelton, founder and CEO of Shelton Group. “With Brooks’ extensive writing and editing experience, I know he will do a great job in pioneering this initiative.”
PRESS RELEASE -
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors, announced today that its latest Utility Pulse study shows that energy-saving habits have declined in the last three years.
The national poll shows decreases in many behaviors, including those listed below:
• Replacing incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient CFLs or LEDs, down 13 percent • Adding sealing, caulking or weatherstripping, down 17 percent
• Purchasing a higher-efficiency/ENERGY STAR qualified appliance, down 6 percent
In addition, the survey found:
• 50 percent of Americans still don’t unplug chargers and un-used appliances • 40 percent don’t use energy-saving thermostat settings
PRESS RELEASE -
•Student team from India addresses the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction
•Finalist projects range from new cancer diagnostic tool and nonprofit fundraising platform to solar power crowdsourcing and recycled shoes
•Entrepreneurial students and their innovative ventures celebrated at finals event
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
A dozen or so experts on social innovation and sustainability gathered in Austin, TX, on Tuesday for the Dell Social Innovation Challenge, a yearly program that inspires social entrepreneurship all over the world.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
An Ecoshift development team led by three PhD environmental scientists and policy analysts has developed a cloud-based system to help companies engage with their suppliers and use sustainability information to improve supply chain performance and reduce risk.
ICT AND BIG DATA -
SAP this week introduced a new cloud-based carpool app to help companies reduce costs by encouraging employees to ride-share to work rather than commute solo.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Rennovia last week announced that it has created a process to make bio-based nylon materials that are nearly 25 percent cheaper to produce and emit half as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional petroleum-derived substances.