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
Environmental NGO Parley for the Oceans is on a roll. Just weeks after announcing new partnerships with designer Stella McCartney and Corona, the organization has joined Intel and SnotBot on a mission to Alaska, where they will be using AI and drone technology to collect data from whales.
If we could transport ourselves to Sicily about 2,250 years ago, we might get there just in time to hear Archimedes famously say, “Give me a lever long enough and a place to stand, and I shall move the world.” He couldn’t have imagined, almost 23 centuries down the road, how urgently we would need to pull every lever available to save the health of that world and its inhabitants.
Greenpeace East Asia has released a new IT product guide ranking tech giants according to iFixit’s repairability score. Seventeen IT brands were represented in the study and over 40 best-selling smartphones, tablets and laptops launched between 2015 and 2017 were assessed.
While energy companies continue to forge ahead with plans to reduce CO2 emissions, researchers are uncovering new ways to use the gas a feedstock to create renewable fuels.
Late last month, IKEA and entrepreneurial cooperative Rainmaking announced the launch of a new startup accelerator, IKEA Bootcamp, which will run from September 18 until December 8, 2017. The program will see startups create solutions for three challenges outlined by IKEA: creating products that are affordable, accessible and have positive impact on both people and planet.
As a global transportation and logistics company, UPS is all too familiar with the myriad of challenges greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions pose to both the environment and the global economy. To reduce impacts and remain competitive in an ever-changing economic landscape, the company, since 2009, has been making moves to drive innovation and spur change within the shipping industry — including investing in alternative fuels, advanced technology vehicles and renewable energies.
Brewers across the country are embracing new technology to tackle some of the industry’s most pressing sustainability challenges: emissions and water. References to carbon capture are often reserved for discussions of power plants and coal, but the process could hold promise for the recovery of CO2 at craft breweries. Engineers at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California have developed a technique to filter CO2 from power plants that could help breweries cut costs and reduce their CO2 emissions.
Expanding its commitment to innovation in the food industry, Nestlé has teamed up with Rabobank and Rocketspace to support startups through the Terra Food + Agtech Accelerator Program. The food giant will collaborate with Terra to select and coach the most forward-thinking and disruptive startups in the food and agricultural industries.
Big news has emerged on the energy front, with a major application of a technology that harnesses the power of pee to generate electricity and new debate about the need for energy storage. The University of the West of England’s Bristol Bioenergy Centre (BBiC) is appealing to festival goers’ senses of humor to power this year’s Glastonbury Festival. The Centre’s signature Pee Power urinals have been installed across the festival grounds equipped with a revolutionary technology that transforms urine into electricity.
The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute has announced the winners of the 5th Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge, including MyEcoWall, a mobile acoustic wall made from Ecovative mushroom material and Scout, a children’s jacket that “grows” with the child. The Challenge is the fifth in an initial series of six circular design challenges that incentivize and inspire the design community to envision viable product design solutions for the circular economy using Cradle to Cradle product design principles.
In a world full of people who depend on water, the most urgent subject is scarcity. More than a billion people live in areas where water is scarce, and that number is likely to reach 3.5 billion by 2025. About 97 percent of the Earth’s water is saltwater, but only around 1 percent of it is potable. Water conservation is a big issue in first-world nations; we enjoy the luxury of plumbing, but a single leak can waste 3,000 gallons a year. Meanwhile, the sea level is rising at a rate of 3.4 millimeters per year.
Not all circular news is good news. As a new startup accelerator launches to drive forward sustainable solutions to everyday challenges, a prominent defender of the circular cause lands himself a spot in federal prison for copyright infringement. The UK’s first-ever sustainability accelerator fund — the cleverly named Sustainable Accelerator — has been met by enthusiastic reception, successfully raising over £700,000 through crowding.
I still clearly recall a professional practice class in architecture school that made the distinction between two types of architecture firms: the Business-Centered Practice and the Practice-Centered Business. In my view, the former was a business that simply happened to practice architecture, while the latter existed to practice architecture and simply happened to function as a business.
The International Coordinating Council of UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Program has named the recipients of its 2017 Young Scientists Awards and the Michel Batisse Award for Biosphere Reserve Management.
Renewable energy continues to gain steam, shedding its niche status and moving towards the mainstream, but further progress is being impeded by barriers related to regulation and storage.
Carpet manufacturer Interface has uncovered a new way to mitigate the negative impact of carpet production — a process that traditionally relies on petroleum-based fibers and adhesives and chemical dyes. Putting its Climate Take Back mission into action, the company has developed Proof Positive, a first-of-its-kind carbon negative carpet tile.
The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the world’s largest organization for mechanical engineers, has announced the finalists of the 2017 ASME Innovation Showcase (ISHOW), the first international competition for hardware-led social innovation.
Brands continue to uncover new ways to transform waste into valuable materials, providing critical solutions for pressing problems such as ocean plastics. Stella McCartney is the latest label to team up with Parley for the Oceans in an effort to keep plastics out of the world’s oceans. The designer, who previously designed a sneaker for adidas in partnership with Parley, intends to use the nonprofit’s recycled plastic yarn in lieu of woven or recycled polyester in her line of shoes, accessories and outerwear.
While renewables are becoming the new normal, battery storage has largely lagged behind. But a new report from global consulting firm McKinsey and the roll-out of new storage pilot projects across the US, Germany and UK are evidence that storage could finally be catching up.
There’s no stopping the circular economy. Both the public and private sector continue to drive circular innovation towards the mainstream, offering new opportunities for budding disruptive businesses to gain exposure and scale up operations. Italian banking group INTESA Sanpaolo hosted its 101st Start Up Initiative, in partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in London last week, providing budding circular innovators with the opportunity to present their ideas on a global stage.