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
On Friday, Mars, Incorporated announced that it will remove all artificial colors from its human food products. Over the next 5 years, artificial colors will be phased out of the company's chocolate, gum, confection, food and drink businesses. The company asserts that artificial colors pose no risks to human health or safety, but that the change comes in response to consumer demand for the increased use of natural ingredients.
To serve people’s urban mobility needs, cities rely on anything from one dominant, mainly private owned means of transport — the personal automobile — to a complex mixture of publicly and privately financed transport means. Users of these mobility services are usually left to their own devices to identify the optimum (combination of) modes to cover a journey and understand differences in terms of pricing, time and convenience.
With up to 50 billion connected devices predicted by 2020, a pervasive digital transformation is reshaping the economy. Will this ‘fourth industrial revolution’ lead to an acceleration of the extractive, ‘linear’ economy of today, or will it enable the transition towards a society in which value creation is increasingly decoupled from finite resource consumption?
Could the health and environmental benefits of taxes on sugary drinks and carbon-intensive foods outweigh the out-of-pocket costs? New research from Oxford University and the University of Reading suggests that is indeed the case. A study published in BMC Public Health found that a combination of a sugar tax on soft drinks and a food-based carbon tax in the United Kingdom could raise £3.6 billion in revenue, reduce carbon emissions by 19 million tonnes, and increase life expectancy.
Aerial imaging is emerging as an invaluable resource for collecting information and enforcing the law, especially when it comes to environmental protection. Satellite and drone technologies are getting increasingly smaller, cheaper, and easier to use, and are producing higher-resolution images. Among other opportunities, the tech has enabled organizations and startups to more accurately monitor environmental destruction and provide data as legal evidence.
Campaigners for action on food waste have had much to celebrate recently. The Rockefeller Foundation launched YieldWise, a $130 million initiative to tackle loss between farm and market and demonstrating how the world can halve food loss by 2030. This coincided with the launch of Champions 12.3, a collaboration of 30 executives and ministers united in their dedication to meeting SDG target 12.3.
On Thursday, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) released a progress report on its Forest Conservation Policy (FCP), which involves four main corporate commitments that have regulated the company’s resource development since 2013. APP claims to have accelerated progress in its peatland restoration work and strengthened fire prevention measures, in addition to promises to provide funding for additional conservation projects this year.
Global fuels giant ExxonMobil seems to be unmoved by the investigations into its climate change lies – first in New York and now in California – and the international Paris Agreement that calls for limiting global temperature rise below 2°C above pre-industrial levels.
The Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) approach is a game-changing initiative in LCA, with effects and ramifications that we are only just beginning to understand. Today in PRé’s PEF series: What is a European representative product? And how do these products play a crucial role in the development of specific rules for product environmental footprinting of the various product groups?
Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the US alone generates an estimated 24 billion pounds of post-consumer textile waste (PCTW), which ends up in landfills each year — the equivalent of about 70 pounds of textiles per person.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is funding a project to cultivate microalgae as biomass for fuels and an array of consumer products. The microscopic single-cell organisms could unlock an affordable way to generate energy using only sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO2).
“It’s kind of cool to have people look different,” a young girl says, with two dolls in her hands. One is blonde and blue-eyed, the other has darker tones – and both are Barbie.In a bold move from Mattel, Barbie will now be available in 7 different skin tones and 22 eye colors. The most startling change, though, is that she will also have 4 body types: original, petite, tall, and curvy.
Following the recent announcement of a €24 billion EU Circular Economy Package, leading sustainability non-profit Forum for the Future has today launched two free tools, developed together with partners Unilever and Novelis, that empower businesses and designers to make decisions that accelerate the shift towards a more circular economy.
As sustainable business enters the mainstream, there is a growing need for a skilled labor force that can meet the needs of socially and environmentally focused firms. The rate of growth for jobs with “environmental compliance” as a keyword has increased by 24 percent since 2010, while jobs focusing on “energy efficiency” have grown by 500 percent since 2009, according to data from job search engine SimplyHired.com, compiled by Coyne College.
Back to the Roots®, an Oakland, California startup spearheading a movement to reconnect people with food, announced today that it has completed a $5 million strategic seed financing round, led by Tony Robbins’ and Peter Guber’s startup accelerator, Agency of Trillions, along with additional new angel investors. Previous investors — TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie, Annie’s founder John Foraker, and Clif Bar CEO Kevin Cleary — also joined the round.
Amidst increasing risks and heightened uncertainty, diverse perspectives are essential to solving the complex problems facing the world today. That is the thinking behind Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)’s Living Progress Challenge, which is asking people from all over the world: What software applications and digital services would you create to improve people’s lives?
Circular and sharing economy models are the latest trend in sustainable fashion – it seems there are new initiatives popping up all the time! Just last week, we covered startups reKindness and Hubbub, which are making clothes swapping easier in the U.S. and U.K., respectively.
There are new options for Americans and Brits alike who want to “re-fashion” their wardrobes. ReKindness is an Atlanta, Georgia-based startup that is allowing members to swap clothes through its online platform. On the other side of the pond, environmental charity Hubbub is running events to help people learn how to repair and upcycle clothes and accessories, in addition to “clothes swapping boutiques.”
Less than three weeks after General Motors (GM) announced a $500 million investment in ride-for-hire service Lyft, GM made another big move towards “the future of mobility.” This week, GM launched Maven: an on-demand car-sharing service and “personal mobility” brand.
As President John F. Kennedy so eloquently said in 1963, in response to critics of a proposed dam project: "A rising tide lifts all boats."A current case in point that could significantly benefit the clean energy space: Tidal lagoons — an ancient, natural source of potential power that can be harnessed sustainably for the 21st century and beyond.