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
Ford Motor Company has been rather focused on the “future of mobility” since the launch of its Smart Mobility Plan and 25 related experiments. The company has been shifting its focus from being an automaker to changing the way the world moves.
Designer and sustainability visionary William McDonough will unveil ICEhouse™ (Innovation for the Circular Economy house) in Davos this week, as a place for those attending the World Economic Forum annual meeting to gather and discuss the future of innovation for the circular economy. The structure has been designed to demonstrate the positive design framework described in the seminal book, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things; the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations, and the reuse of resources implicit in the circular economy.
President Barack Obama highlighted the successes of cleantech investment – for both the economy and the environment – in his final State of the Union address on January 12.
The winners of the second Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Product Design Challenge were announced this morning – each solution was carefully designed to maximize the use of materials that can be perpetually cycled for reuse.
Grocery stores in Europe and North America have slowly begun to target the food waste epidemic by showcasing “ugly” produce: French supermarket chain Intermarché led the pack in 2014 with its ingenious “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables” campaign, UK-based Asda followed suit with its “Wonky Veg” campaign, and the trend came Stateside last summer when West Coast supermarket chain Raley’s partnered with Calif.-based startup Imperfect to pilot the “
10 promising startups that deliver water-focused data and analytics solutions have been selected as finalists in Imagine H2O’s Water Data Challenge, competing for $50,000 in cash awards. The final winners will be announced at Imagine H2O’s WaterGala event in San Francisco on March 16, 2016. In the meantime, the startups will participate the non-profit organization’s specialized water innovation accelerator program which will provide mentorship and grant them access to industry events as well as introductions to investors, utility partners, and beta customers.
AT&T is building a framework to help cities better serve their citizens. The tech giant is using Internet of Things (IoT) innovations to create impactful solutions for cities and forming alliances with technology leaders and industry organizations.
Purpose brands that are authentic in creating a positive contribution to society while focusing on the delivery of great products and services are outgrowing other competitors. A clear purpose drives consumer preference and motivates employees, accelerating business results and positive change.
Farmer-owned co-operative Organic Valley surpassed $1 billion in sales on December 22, 2015, making it the world’s first organic-only food company to surpass the billion-dollar milestone. The company attributes a large part of its recent success to the introduction of two new product lines: In 2014, the company launched Organic Balance and Organic Fuel brand protein shakes; and in 2015 it launched Grassmilk premium yogurt, made with 100 percent grass-fed milk and no grain.
The emergent field of energy analytics could soon be a boon to sustainability.Several companies are now selling energy analytics apps that are superior to manual, data-crunching spreadsheets. The new apps leverage smart grid systems plus data collected by sensors via the IoT. The size of these datasets requires cloud-scale computing.So business is investing in energy efficiency, not necessarily for altruistic reasons, but for smarter operational practice and efficiency as the tools available augment.
With CES 2016 underway in Las Vegas this week, we are expecting to have announcements about exciting tech advancements coming out of our ears. Case in point: At The Ford Motor Company's press conference this morning, it announced a partnership with Amazon to integrate vehicles with Echo, the e-commerce company’s smarthome device.
The ocean may be “big,” and “blue,” but it is also, unfortunately, full of garbage. It has been estimated that there are over 5 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the world’s oceans and 10,000 times more in the deep sea. Plastic and fibers have been found in a quarter of fish sold in markets in the US and Indonesia. Abandoned fishing gear often still traps and kills fish and sea mammals.
This week at CES 2016 in Las Vegas, hundreds of innovators, large and small, will showcase thousands of their latest potentially game-changing technologies in the world of electronics.A CES staple, appliance giant Whirlpool will showcase its Whirlpool® Every day, care™ interactive experience, where attendees can experience the latest product innovations and future design concepts:
In the era of personalization and connectivity, the way we interact with food could change drastically in the near future. With conceptual 3D printers for meat on the table and specialized accelerator programs for food-focused technology startups already running, changes are well underway. Professor Maged Boulos from the University of the Highlands and Islands in Scotland is considering how the ‘Internet of Things’ concept could be applied to food. How will technology and connectivity influence people’s diets?
The bold thinking and actions taken by corporate sustainability trailblazers often challenge the status quo and alter the concept of a company’s role in society. The following companies are leaders. They have taken principled stances or have implemented innovative programs that lead to better social and environmental conditions. In some cases, a company is included here just because of some radical statement from the CEO. But, they are the kinds of statements and actions we need if we are to move past incremental improvements and achieve transformative change on our way to sustainability.
UPS has announced it will supply its fleet in Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss., with an estimated 15 million diesel gallon gas equivalents of renewable natural gas (RNG) as part of a multi-year agreement with Memphis Light, Gas and Water and Atmos Energy Marketing.
Aluminum rolling and recycling leader Novelis released its sustainability report for Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) on December 22. The company doubled its recycling capacity over the past five years, among other achievements.
Luxury vehicle manufacturers today make up about 23 percent of the plug-in electric vehicle (EV) market, and this is expected to climb to about 50 percent by the early 2020s, according to a new report from Navigant Research.
The future is uncertain — especially when it comes to food. As the need to transition to a more sustainable food system becomes apparent, many have speculated on what the future of food will hold. Will we consume crickets for protein, or stick with something more familiar, like drought-resistant beans and plant-based burgers?
The Ford Motor Company is ‘going further’ with its Smart Mobility Plan, which focuses on innovation in connectivity, mobility, autonomous vehicles, the customer experience, and data and analytics. Two recent developments include the use of sensor technology on motorcycles to collect mobility data in Africa, and autonomous vehicle testing on public roads in the US.