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.
Are We Seeing Glimmers of a Healthier, Even Regenerative, Economic System?
Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. Last week at SB’22 San Diego, over 1K sustainability practitioners have converged to share insights, tools, inspiration and opportunities for collaboration with the goal of building a regenerative future for all. Here, we hear highlights from our day four keynotes, which featured glimpses into the next frontier in finance and capitalism.
Empowering Waste Pickers, Building Communities and Closing the Loop
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. In Latin America, where recycling rates remain below 10%, grassroots circular solutions are slowly beginning to scale — thanks to growing legitimacy, education, organization and protections for informal waste workers, who remain the backbone of the region’s collection and recycling infrastructure.
E-Waste No More: Fairphone and Framework Show a Better Way Forward for Personal Electronics
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Recycling, circular industry partnerships and marketplaces for refurbished devices are growing in popularity, but they won’t be a match for the tech industry’s throwaway approach anytime soon. But some smaller, more intrepid brands are proving the validity and demand for longer-lasting, easy-to-repair electronics.
Ærli Aiming to Put Conscious, Regenerative Spin on Corporate Retreat Industry
Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. The new Norwegian network of nine properties is on a mission to redefine business travel with experiences that embed and impart the very essence of sustainability and regenerative practices.
Can Regenerative Agriculture Regenerate the US Food System?
The conversation recently made its way to Washington, DC — where the Environment Subcommittee of the House Committee of Oversight and Reform discussed calls to reform federal policies that unjustly favor corporate agribusiness, often at the expense of family farmers.
Selfridges & Circularity: Signs of a Shift, But Still a Bit Short
More brands seem to be taking a two-pronged approach to growth — continuing to sell new products while demonstrating their ‘care’ for the planet through circular initiatives and takeback schemes. When will companies truly commit to changing the products they sell and how they sell them?
Trending: Industry Continues to Arm Itself in War on Plastic Waste
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. A new accelerator from the US Plastics Pact aims to catalyze broader adoption of reusable and refillable packaging options, while an upskilling program from rePurpose Global aims to help sustainability leaders more effectively tackle plastic pollution.
Moonshot Disability Accelerator Fund on Mission to Close the Disability Wealth Gap
Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. It will begin by funding 10 global accelerators working with early-stage entrepreneurs innovating at the intersection of disability and technology.
Andreu World Takes Next Steps Towards Circular Furniture Production
CEO Jesús Linares discusses the rigors of achieving Cradle-to-Cradle certification, and venturing further into reuse and upcycling for the goal of 100% circularity by 2025.
In Our Water- and Climate-Stressed World, There’s No Excuse for Wastewater Going to Waste
Cross-Posted from Cleantech. Globally, 80% of wastewater is discharged into local environments with minimal or no treatment — water that could be recycled and reused. California-based startup Aquacycl's waste-to-energy solution protects water resources while helping companies reduce costs.
Team of Scientists Unveil Space-Tech Platform That Tracks Carbon in Every Tree
Cross-Posted from New Metrics. CTREES’ global dataset provides a nearly real-time picture of the carbon implications of forest conservation and restoration at the local, national and global level — ensuring results from efforts to reach global climate targets can be accurately reported.
Personal Impact Measurement Tool Helps Users Improve Their Shopping 'Karma,' Drive Individual Climate Action
Cross-Posted from Behavior Change. Karma Wallet is banking on a recipe of behavior change, fintech and systems change to create a critical mass of consumers able to turn intent into action and pressure brands to make the broader changes the world needs.
Study Finds Social Cost of Carbon More Than Triple the Current Federal Estimate
Cross-Posted from New Metrics. A multi-year study of the social cost of carbon, a critical input for climate policy analysis, finds that every additional ton of CO2 emitted into the atmosphere costs society $185 — far higher than the current federal estimate of $51 per ton.
John Oliver’s Inconvenient Truth: The Voluntary Carbon Market’s Biggest Problem Is the Market Itself
By failing to acknowledge our industry’s flaws, we could hinder meaningful progress on real issues going forward — namely, making sure carbon offsets actually contribute to reducing GHG emissions.
Over 90% of US Adults Think Climate Change Will Inevitably Impact the Real Estate Market
3 in 5 say climate risks have already impacted their decision on where to live; but housing prices and cost of living are still bigger factors.
Technological Ingenuity in African Nations: How They Are Solving the Plastic Waste Challenge
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Enabling a circular economy is a complicated challenge that governments, communities and businesses globally are struggling to solve. But as Dow’s work in Africa proves, solutions exist — and success comes when organizations and communities collaborate to create change rooted in local context.
Aleph Farms Joins AIM for Climate with $40M Investment to Advance Cellular Agriculture
Cross-Posted from Product, Service & Design Innovation. Cellular ag technologies address two of the initiative’s four focal areas of innovation for 2022; they could be a key tool for reducing food’s environmental impact and enabling greater food security.
Recurate’s Inaugural Resale Report Highlights Goldmine in Brand-Owned Recommerce
Many brands that offer pre-owned merchandise through their own retail channels initially do it for sustainability reasons — to keep useful products out of landfills. While that is an important benefit of recommerce, thinking of it only in those terms is overlooking major business opportunities.
Report: An Asset Mindset Is Needed to Make a Circular Economy a Reality
Latest research from Planet Tracker proposes a practical business solution to the problem of plastic waste, whereby packaging is treated as an asset to be returned, rather than a liability to be tossed.
4 Things We Must Get Right to Truly Transform the US Agriculture System
As regenerative ag gains momentum in the US, how do we ensure that the transition of the food system materializes in a way that supports equitable economic prosperity while allowing people and planet to flourish long term? Here are four areas where today’s decisions will shape US agriculture’s future trajectory.
