Product, Service & Design Innovation

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.

Topic Channel Sponsored By

Biomimicry Institute Seeks Nature-Inspired Innovations for $100K Ray of Hope Prize®

The Ray of Hope Prize competition gives startups a chance to get their biomimetic innovations to market; entrepreneurs with nature-inspired design solutions for climate mitigation, carbon sequestration or the SDGs have until December 31 to apply.

25 Years On: Lessons Learned from Interface’s Ongoing Sustainability Journey

Why are lessons learned by a flooring company relevant? Many of the challenges we had to solve are the same that companies are struggling with as they pursue sustainability. Our accomplishments are significant because they show it is possible to transform a business and put sustainability at the core.

Sanitary Products, Soft Drinks and Safety Locks: An FMCG Approach to Fighting Period Poverty in Tanzania

'Period poverty' — in which women and girls struggle to access and afford menstrual products — is particularly bad in sub-Saharan Africa. That’s why a new initiative in Tanzania is taking a 21st-century, FMCG approach to a centuries-old problem.

The Biosphere Rules: Sustainability Is a Destination, Not a Journey

Envision a future where every material thing in our world is made out of a handful of materials, carefully selected to be safe, healthy and infinitely recyclable. Everything from coffee cup to countertop could be broken down and used as raw materials for a new shawl or lampshade.

The Biosphere’s Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 6: Function Over Form

Sustainability experts for decades have been exhorting managers to focus more on the function their products deliver and less on the product itself. Biosphere Rule #5, Function Over Form, is focused on fulfilling customers’ functional needs in ways that sustain the value cycle.

SB Oceans Showcases Solutions Aimed at Restoring Our Aquatic Abundance

AI, a conscientious credit card, social plastic and underwater forests are just a few of the solutions showcased at SB Oceans that can help us restore their abundance.

The Biosphere’s Guide to Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 5: Sustainable Product Platforms

Biosphere Rule #4 is about taking your value cycle, built with parsimonious materials and a power-autonomous energy system, and creating a production platform upon which you can build a whole suite of products — producing profit-amplifying economies of scale and scope.

Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 3: Value Cycling

The model we use to teach MBAs about production is the value chain. But there's a problem: It imagines a linear world in which materials can be constantly pushed through an assembly line with no consequence.

Foolproofing Sustainability, Part 2: Materials Parsimony

The amazing diversity of life is founded on dramatic materials parsimony; almost everything in nature is built out of just four elements. Whereas, what we humans have gotten since the Industrial Revolution is *materials proliferation.*

Beyond Global Thinking: NASA’s Jim Adams on Ensuring Humanity’s Future

Ahead of his upcoming keynote at SB’19 Madrid and 50 years after the Moon landing, we spoke with Jim Adams — recently retired Deputy Chief Technologist at NASA — about the moonshot thinking humanity now needs.

Evolving Consumer Palates Demanding Better-Made Beverages

As we see greater attention to the growing climate crisis, plastic pollution and other global sustainability challenges, beverage makers who do more to reduce their impact stand to gain, while those stuck in a tone-deaf, business-as-usual model will be left behind.

Ask First, Give Second: The One-for-One Giving Model Gets a Revamp

Ideally, Western companies should adopt an attitude of *Ask First, Give Second*. We’d all benefit if we empowered those who will receive the donations to determine what they need most, rather than making that decision for them.

New Chocolate, Ingredients from Barry Callebaut Utilize Whole Cacao Fruit

‘Cacaofruit Experience’ eliminates 70% of waste in cacao processing while addressing consumer demand for tasty, nutritious, whole foods; WholeFruit chocolate is a fresh, fruity chocolate made from 100% pure cacao fruit, is available for chefs and artisans.