The constant stream of new models, products and processes that are helping organizations extend the useful life of resources and materials while reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms
Hey Coca-Cola, how about redirecting your advertising budget for a year to help save the planet?That is the ask of the group Buy the World a Hope, an “independent group of people who believe that there must be new ways to substantially help the world, to work with the system and benefit the planet.”Buy the World a Hope aims to revolutionize marketing. Its website, available in 15 languages, asks visitors to sign an open letter to the CEO of Coca-Cola, urging the company to quit its $3 billion advertising spending budget for one year and direct that money toward protecting rainforests.
AT&T announced a new program today that will help California customers minimize a major source of water waste: leaks.Customers that sign up for AT&T Digital Life and add a Water Detection Package will receive alerts on their mobile devices when a sensor detects the presence of water in a designated area in their home. In addition, the AT&T Digital Life Water Control service not only detects water leaks, but allows users to shut off the water source remotely from their mobile phone or tablet.
Molson Coors Brewing Company today released its 2015 Corporate Responsibility Report, covering the company’s 2014 performance toward its 2020 goals.The brewer reports meaningful progress in 2014 toward its 2020 targets of zero waste to landfill, 25 percent energy reduction and 15 percent reduction in both carbon and water intensity. Results included:
If you’re concerned about the recent drought but feel lost on how you can lessen your personal water use, a new initiative promises to help. Anheuser Busch’s Shock Top Brewing Co. is partnering with Indiegogo to identify, fund and distribute water-saving innovations that can help California residents reduce their water consumption.
In less than eight months, humanity has used up nature’s budget for the entire year, with carbon sequestration making up more than half of the demand on nature, according to data from Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability think tank with offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Just weeks after partnering with surfer Kelly Slater on his new men’s apparel line, Outerknown, upcyled fiber supplier Aquafil today announced it has partnered with Speedo USA on a take-back program that will allow Speedo’s post-manufacturing swimwear scraps to be upcycled into Aquafil’s 100 percent regenerated ECONYL® nylon.
In an unprecedented show of business support for tackling climate change, 365 companies and investor groups sent letters today to more than two dozen governors across the United States voicing their support for the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan for existing power plants and encouraging the state’s “timely finalization” of state implementation plans to meet the new standards.The letter, organized by sustainability advocacy group Ceres, comes just days before the expected finalization of the rule aimed at reducing U.S. power plant carbon pollution by 30 percent by 2030.
The European Commission is expected to unveil its revised Circular Economy Package this autumn – an occasion that will mark the first significant piece of policy intervention in this space. The Commission is under pressure to get the detail right this time, having ditched the original proposals earlier this year, deeming them not ambitious enough.
A new study published in the Journal of Industrial Ecology highlights the progress of the notoriously water-consumptive almond industry in becoming carbon-emission neutral or even carbon negative. The research, undertaken by UC Davis scientists, highlights the carbon capture potential of almond orchards and concludes that reusing byproducts from almond production and harvest is critical to the industry’s environmental impact and emissions reduction.
As only 15 percent of clothes, shoes and accessories are recycled each year — with the remaining 85 percent, 10.5 million tons, ending up in landfills — more and more apparel brands (including H&M, The North Face, American Eagle Outfitters, and most recently, Levi-Strauss) are taking initiative to collect and recycle textiles
More than three-quarters of consumers claim that environmentally-sound packaging has an influence on the beverage brand they buy, according to a new global survey of some 6,000 consumers across 12 different countries.The survey, carried out this year for food processing and packaging solutions firm Tetra Pak, revealed a growing appetite among consumers for products that tick the right environmental boxes. When asked about recent purchasing habits, two-thirds said they have bought environmental products, even when they cost more, while around the same proportion have avoided specific brands or items due to environmental concerns.
U.S. Water Services, a water treatment company providing industrial and commercial water management, has announced a breakthrough in sustainable chemistry for cooling water treatment.The PhosZero™ family of water treatment products is designed to provide scale and corrosion control similar to “traditional” phosphorus containing chemistries, but without the discharge or aquatic toxicity of older technologies.The PhosZero products are made with E-FexTM technology, which the company says includes the following benefits:
At Levi Strauss & Co., our sustainability thinking has traditionally begun at the cotton stage of the product life cycle. The cotton is picked, ginned, spun, and woven into fabric. The fabric is cut, sewn, and finished into a pair of jeans before being sent to a distribution center, then on to your favorite store where the jeans are sold to you.
British coffee drinkers can now support biofuel production on their morning commutes. Network Rail, the company owning and operating Britain’s stations announced a partnership Tuesday with bio-bean, a company recycling waste coffee grounds into carbon-neutral fuel.Following a successful trial at London’s Victoria and Waterloo stations, the scheme will be introduced at Network Rail’s six largest stations, which generate nearly 700 tons of coffee waste annually. Instead of sending the grounds to landfill, generating roughly 5,000 tons of carbon emissions, the waste will now produce over 650 tons of biofuel — enough to power 1,000 homes a year.
A new report shows evidence that economic growth is decoupling from carbon and other greenhouse gas emissions in a majority of American states. Authored by sustainability groups Ceres and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), along with Bank of America and four of the largest U.S. power plant operators, the research shows 42 of 50 states decreased emissions from power plants from 2008-2013, totaling a nationwide decrease of 12 percent.
With ever-changing fashion trends, cheap and disposable clothing creates heaping piles of landfill trash around the world. Two recent developments in the fashion industry — an art exhibit and a recycled clothing line — aim to spread awareness of and combat this mounting problem. Waste on Display First, a new art installation in Hong Kong by eco-friendly fashion NGO Redress illustrates the enormity of clothing waste and the associated environmental impacts. Made from 360 kg of discarded clothing, the YWASTE? exhibit represents the amount of textiles dumped into Hong Kong landfills every two minutes — 10,800 kg, or nearly 800 lbs an hour!
The Dewar’s Aberfeldy Distillery in Scotland has cut its carbon footprint by 90 percent after installing a biomass boiler late last year.Traditionally, distilleries are heavy users of fossil fuels, but this is the latest example of investment in biomass gaining traction industry-wide.“Moving away from boilers that use heavy fuel oil – to more efficient wood pellets – helps reduce energy costs and lower emissions into the environment,” a spokesman for the Scotch Whisky Association (SWA) said in a statement.
A new report released by the Global Commission on the Economy and the Climate identifies 10 key economic opportunities that could close up to 96 percent of the gap between business-as-usual emissions and the level needed to limit dangerous climate change. The report calls for stronger cooperation between governments, businesses, investors, cities and communities to drive economic growth in the emerging low-carbon economy.
The National Materials Marketplace, a new joint pilot project led by the Corporate Eco Forum (CEF), US Business Council for Sustainable Development (US BCSD), and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), brings together more than 20 major companies with operations in the United States, helping them identify ways to reuse or exchange undervalued materials via an online database, and establish new circular supply chains.
Arizona State University (ASU) athletics and ESPN recently continued bold efforts to reduce waste and carbon emissions at their high-profile sporting events.ASU’s Sun Devil Athletics was recognized for its participation in the 2014 Game Day Zero Waste Challenge as part of the Pac-12 Conference. The team scored first in the Challenge’s recycling and organics-reduction categories, recycling an average of 1 pound of waste per person. It also placed second in the conference diversion rate category and third in GHG reduction.