The Next Economy
The myriad new models and processes aimed at fixing the flaws in capitalism and laying the groundwork for practical, alternative economic frameworks designed to benefit all stakeholders.
Reformation Partners with Community Recycling to Ignite Fashion Reuse Movement
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
To Infinity and Beyond: How Levi's Is Embracing the Circular Economy
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.
New Report Decouples Economic Growth from Increased Emissions
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.
Report: Collaboration Needed to Drive Economic Growth in Emerging Low-Carbon Economy
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.
New Online Marketplace Will Allow US Companies to Exchange Underutilized Materials
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.
Trending: Even Yet Still More Evidence Pointing to #BusinessCase for Circular Economy
More and more evidence continues to emerge that points to the literal wealth of untapped potential of shifting to a circular economy. Today, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, and SUN (Stiftungsfonds für Umweltökonomie und Nachhaltigkeit) present the results of a major new study at the European Commission’s stakeholder conference on the circular economy in Brussels.
Dell's Progress in Closing Loops, Eliminating E-Waste Brings It Closer to 2020 'Legacy of Good' Goals
Today Dell released an update on its headway in 2014-2015 against its 2020 Legacy of Good Plan, highlighting its first signs of progress in achieving 21 goals in the areas of environment, communities and employees.“Dell has made great progress across its global business ecosystem in its efforts to use the technology we produce for good,” said Trisa Thompson, VP of Corporate Responsibility at Dell. “We’re committed to this ongoing work and share our results to both create and inspire positive change in business practices.”Notable accomplishments in terms of its products and operations include:
RIT Joins Group of Universities Furthering Global Understanding of Circular Economy
Rochester Institute of Technology has become a Pioneer University within the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (EMF)’s Higher Education program, joining a select group of universities worldwide dedicated to accelerating a global transition to a regenerative, circular economy.
Philips, Dell, ASU Discuss How to Fill Existing Gaps in Shift Toward Circular Business Models
This #SB15sd Wednesday afternoon session on the circular economy convened a frank and open discussion about what is working, and what isn’t, when it comes to tweaking existing business ecosystems to accommodate circular models. Panelists compared notes on attempts to create new models, highlighted existing gaps, and discussed their visions for potential solutions.
How to Build a Branded Peer-to-Peer Marketplace
Couldn't make ittoSB '15 San Diego?View this session'spresentationhereand catch up onthe week's
How to Utilize Cities as Partners, Customers for New Sustainable Solutions: The City Perspective
“Use your city as a platform,” opened moderator and CSO for the City of Palo Alto Gil Friend.While local governments have gotten the bad reputation of being slow, bureaucratic animals, the panelists, representing four major cities across the United States — including Los Angeles and New York City- presented the business case for corporations to integrate their sustainability efforts with their cities for the success of shared goals.
One Way to Create Sustainability Now? Through New Relationships, Economies
Jerry Michalski, Founder of San Francisco-based REX (the Relationship Economy Expedition), helped to kick off Day 1 of Sustainable Brands 2015 San Diego with a workshop entitled, ‘Leveraging the Relationship and Sharing Economies: Innovation Potential and Strategies for Entry.’ The session provided context and comparison between the Circular, Sharing, and
How Emerging Players, Business Models, Partnerships Are Innovating for a Circular Economy
Couldn't make ittoSB '15 San Diego?View this session'spresentationhereand catch up onthe week's
Cities and Corporations: How Do They Intersect on Sustainability?
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.
Building a Circular Economy: How Ford, Novelis Created a Truly Closed Loop for Automotive Aluminum
With approximately 9 billion people in the world today, society consumes and discards more and more each year, with no signs of slowing down. Culturally, we’ve begun to embrace and adopt recycling as a solution to our modern waste habits and an opportunity to keep designing, using and producing recyclable materials. But what if those recyclable materials are not in fact being recycled? Well, then we’re right back where we started, aren’t we?
Meet You in the AgriHood: Co-Housing Becoming Increasingly Attractive Option for Developers
"You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete." ~Buckminster FullerSeems the hippies and the father of the geodesic dome were on to something sustainable in the 1960s when they modeled shared living spaces and bartered goods. Turns out those behaviors truly are easier on the planet and better for the soul.
Regenerative Capitalism: 7 Questions with a Finance Exec Turned Systems Thinker
Nearly 15 years ago, John Fullerton left a two-decade career at JP Morgan in pursuit of meaning. Fullerton was disillusioned with the direction of mainstream finance; he saw a once principled culture yielding to the ferocious competition in deregulated capital markets, where economic brawn increasingly trumped civility.In his search for a new path, Fullerton soon discovered the profundity of interrelated ecological, economic and social crises afflicting the world. His most startling realization, he writes, “was that the modern scheme of economics and finance — what Wall Street ‘geniuses’ (like me) practiced so well — formed the root cause of these systemic crises.”
Trending: How Do We Compensate Contractors in the 1099 Economy?
Facebook announced new benefits for its contract workers this week; the company will require contractors to pay employees a $15 minimum wage and provide benefits, including 15 paid days off and $4,000 paid parental leave.“Taking these steps is the right thing to do for our business and our community,” COO Sheryl Sandberg wrote in the post.Facebook’s decision is indicative of two important trends affecting the modern workplace: the proliferation of the 1099 economy and the growing pressure on companies to better compensate contractors.
New Study Asserts Need for Global, Standardized Definition of Circular Economy; MacArthur Provides One
According to Communicating the Circle: Are circular economy communication strategies starting to connect? — a white paper published by Go Circular — a majority of circular economy professionals (61 percent) believe corporate circular economy communication strategies would benefit from such a definition.
New Circularity Indicators Enable Companies to Assess Products in Context of Circular Economy
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation and Granta Design have launched new indicators which, for the first time, enable companies to assess how well a product or company performs in the context of a circular economy. The new Circularity Indicators measure the extent to which the material flows of a product or company are restorative. In doing so, they will enable companies to measure their progress in making the transition from linear to circular models, and to identify areas of further opportunity.
