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Innovation & Technology

The latest products, services, design approaches and business models that are helping organizations of all sizes deliver on their sustainability ambitions and establish a new business as usual

Biomimetic Cooling, Housing Solutions Take Top Honors in Youth Design Challenge

The Biomimicry Institute’s third annual Youth Design Challenge engaged 6,000 students across the US; and yielded ingenious designs for solutions to problems in cities and nature alike.

How 3 CPG Companies Invigorated Their Brands Through Plastic Neutrality

The Plastic Neutral Certification enabled these brands to immediately address the growing concerns of their customer base, tell unique stories on their sustainability commitment, and differentiate themselves from the competition on the aisle and in the customer’s mind.

Brewers Take Note: Enzymes Can Play a Crucial Role in Global Climate Fightback

Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. LCAs are becoming increasingly important in identifying ways to help solve the climate crisis — not only in pinpointing inefficiencies, but in highlighting how relatively small changes can create a huge, lasting, collective impact.

Community Support, Collaboration Signal Resilient Future for Co-operatives

Cross-Posted from Organizational Governance. The coronavirus pandemic has made clear the importance of each person and business acting individually to work toward a shared goal that benefits society as a whole. Co-ops are inherently set up for resilience, as they act with the best interest of the community in mind.

Trending: Startups Find Surprising Ways to Fuel Shift Away from Animal-Based Proteins

Startups in Israel and Colorado are hitting the lab to reinvent dairy products and pet treats, respectively, without a single animal protein (as we know it) in sight.

Giving Tuesday Now: The Jumpstart We Need to Reimagine Giving

#GivingTuesdayNow is an emergency response to the unprecedented need caused by COVID-19. It’s an opportunity to give back to communities in safe ways that allow for social connection; to support the critical work of the nonprofit sector; and perhaps more importantly, to redefine the role of business.

Shelter from the Storm: Overcoming Challenges to Build a Resilient, Sustainable Society

Cross-Posted from Organizational Governance. In a recent conversation about the role of his company in ensuring a sustainable future in times of increasing uncertainty, MS&AD Insurance Group Holdings’ Shiro Fujii said, “We don’t see ourselves simply as an insurance provider, but as a risk solutions expert.”

CaterCow Cares: The COVID-Sparked Pivot That Really Puts People Before Profit

In what could end up being a swan song for the company, CaterCow has truly put altruism ahead of self-preservation during the ongoing pandemic.

26 World-Changing Ideas: Improving Everything from Food to Health to Materials to Transport

How nice to stop thinking about COVID for a minute and revel in the potential of some truly groundbreaking creations! Here are some of Fast Company’s most recent list of 26 World-Changing Ideas that we’re especially excited about …

SB’20 Yokohama: Collaboration, Co-Creation Tackling the Challenges Facing Japan and the World

Cross-Posted from Collaboration & Co-Creation. On the theme of “Delivering the Good Life,” SB'20 Yokohama was held on February 19–20 in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, just outside of Tokyo. The fourth SB conference in Japan attracted 231 speakers and more than 3,300 attendees, making it the largest-scale event in the global Sustainable Brands community.

SB Corporate Members Collaborate to Drive Circular Innovation

Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. When BASF and its customer and fellow Sustainable Brands Corporate Member, Stanley Black & Decker, realized they had similar interest in recycling technologies for plastics and battery materials, they decided to launch an innovation challenge.

2019 Nobel-Winning Chemistry Professor Shares His Views on Renewable Energy

Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. Dr. Stanley Whittingham, the pioneer of lithium-ion batteries, spoke with BASF about a fossil-fuel-free future.

Apple, Google Team Up on Contact-Tracing System for COVID-19

Cross-Posted from Collaboration & Co-Creation. If only we had a reliable system for tracking the spread of the coronavirus, and future outbreaks … The two tech giants are collaborating on just that — and they insist it won’t compromise public privacy.

Fibersort Technology Could Be Game-Changing for Recycling Post-Consumer Textiles

Cross-Posted from Circular Economy. The tech can separate collected textiles by fiber composition and color into precise recycling feedstocks and return them to the supply chain — but studies show consumers need to drive the garment industry to use more recycled content in their products.

3 Ways the Coronavirus Outbreak Can Lead to a More Sustainable Future

Cross-Posted from Circular Economy. Although the danger to our health is currently very present and very real, experts expect this crisis will at some point pass, and we will be able to resume our normal lives with a renewed sense of appreciation. The question is, what will a return to “business as usual” look like?

Meet 5 More Disruptors That Could Transform Fashion as We Know It

Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. The H&M Foundation has unveiled the latest crop of innovators to earn its Global Change Award. The five startups share a €1 million prize pot and will participate in the Foundation’s Innovation Acceleration Program.

With More CEOs at Home with Their Children, Could This Pandemic Be the Catalyst Sustainability Needs?

Cross-Posted from Organizational Governance. As CEOs spend time reconnecting with their children at home, investors open laptops at kitchen tables and policymakers have more time than ever to consider our future; is now the time when long-term, sustainable decision-making will finally trump all else?

IBM’s 2020 Call for Code Challenge Takes on Both Climate Change and COVID-19

Cross-Posted from Circular Economy. The annual challenge aims to address society’s most pressing issues; which is why this year, IBM is asking developers, data scientists and problem solvers to address two urgent crises that have the power to compromise our health, our planet and our survival.

Trending: Food Startups Find Creative Ways to Release Products Without Expo West

Necessity is the mother of invention. That’s what led many entrepreneurs to create their product or service innovations in the first place — and that adage is definitely in play as businesses large and small are forced to pivot, almost daily, as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to unfold.

The Continued Evolution of Plant-Based Products — and the Ones We’re Not Hearing About

We must look at all categories where we can offer plant-based and sustainably sourced choices for intentional consumers. There has never been a time where we need to be more collectively conscious of the products we consume, and acknowledge their impacts on our long-term health.