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.
Indigenous-Inspired Design to Help Future-Proof Tulum’s New Train Station
Aidia Studio’s pre-Hispanic Mayan-inspired design is a much-needed evolutionary twist on current architecture that will help ensure the survival of the Mexican city’s transport links during increasingly frequent extreme weather events.
30-Year-Old Entrepreneur Putting Africa Front and Center in Global Circular Economy
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Ray Onovwigun and his startup, Romco Metals, have seized the opportunity to build the capacity and infrastructure Africa needs to become a global player in the recovery and recycling of valuable metals.
Partnering Across the Value Chain in India: New Opportunities to Close the Loop
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Although progress is being made to advance a circular economy, converting difficult-to-recycle flexible plastics and films, such as plastic bags, into new products has largely been untouched by recycling innovators. Dow, Circulate Capital and Lucro Plast-e-cycle are partnering to change that.
How eCommerce Can Reduce Both Shoe Returns and Their Environmental Effects
Retailers and brands that view themselves as leaders in a customer's online shopping journey, and want to keep their trust in sustainability initiatives, need to solve the root of the return culture problem: Fit. Sizeable advancements in AI and machine learning have put the perfect fit in the hands of everyone.
IKEA Brings Circular Model Stateside with Pilot of Buy Back & Resell Service
The retailer is piloting the service, which helps customers prolong the life of their furniture, at IKEA Conshohocken for a limited time — with a goal of expanding it to all of its US stores in the future.
Jackson Family Wines to Transform Wine Industry Into One That’s ‘Rooted for Good’
Cross-Posted from Walking the Talk. A livable world will be determined by the choices humanity makes during this 'decade of action.' JFW is taking point to fundamentally shift how the wine industry future-proofs itself and does business for good.
Doconomy, Parley Partner to Solve Interconnected Climate, Plastic Crises
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. The two will work together to quantify the unseen environmental costs of consumption decisions in ways that empower individuals, businesses and governments to align their spending with climate action and solutions — focusing initially on carbon, water and plastic.
Education: The Missing Piece in Holistic CSR Strategies
Cross-Posted from Walking the Talk. These forward-thinking companies' efforts show that committing to education as part of a brand’s CSR strategy is, truly, a commitment — but one that can pay dividends both to society and the company itself.
This Spanish Water Utility Is Turning Orange Waste Into Green Power
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. Emasesa saw an opportunity to treat the 5.7M kilos of oranges littering the streets of Seville each year not as food waste, but as a powerful circular solution.
Trending: lululemon, Pangaia Push Plant-Based Fabrics Further
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. lululemon’s latest partnership aims to replace conventional nylon in its products with bio-based; while two new blends from Pangaia are the brand’s latest step to delivering sustainable alternatives to overproduced materials such as cotton.
Industry Leaders Co-Creating Groundbreaking Framework to Evolve Packaging Recyclability
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. Designing a package to be recyclable is currently complex and ambiguous, with no transparent national framework or guidelines in place. The Pathway to Circularity Recyclability Framework will be open for comment for 30 days, beginning August 19.
‘Back to Life’ Program Seeds Regenerative Tourism Framework in New Zealand
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. Taking advantage of the forced pandemic pause and building off the momentum of a less extractive tourism model already taking shape in the country’s Bay of Plenty, the online program provided a foundation for shaping thriving host communities rooted in local context and culture.
Airbnb, UNESCO Partner to Promote Cultural Tourism — Starting in Mexico
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. The initiative will promote destinations and experiences outside the traditional tourist circuit — engaging local tourist communities, integrating the creative and cultural sector into local tourism value chains, and contributing to the development of responsible tourism.
Meet the Winemaker Working to Future-Proof Wine for a Climate-Challenged Future
The warming world is affecting all agricultural industries, with wine being no exception. New York’s Gotham Winery is banking on diversity and adaptability to strengthen the grapes and the industry, both socially and environmentally.
Closed-Loop Tech Aims to Change Textile Industry’s Water Use from ‘Waste2Fresh’
Cross-Posted from Cleantech. With textile manufacturing responsible for 20% of global water pollution, Waste2Fresh's closed-loop water-recycling system aim to revolutionize the industry’s exploitative methods for dyeing and manufacturing our clothes.
CVS Health, Target, Walmart Piloting Alternative Bag Solutions to Combat Plastic Waste
The partnership among the leading retailers’ different stores sets an exciting precedent; collaboration will help accelerate pathways to scale and help address the systemic challenge of plastic bag waste.
Circular Solutions Edging Us Closer to a Zero-Waste Future for Convenience Food
Since day one, we have had a vision of eliminating all single-use packaging from the meal kit experience. We’ve heard time and time again about how individuals need to do more; but the reality is, businesses need to innovate to enable the solutions that consumers are increasingly demanding.
Trending: Could Food Waste Be the Future of Fashion?
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. A recent study analyzes agricultural waste streams in Asia and charts a roadmap for establishing alternative textile value streams at scale; while Lenzing puts this into practice with a lyocell fiber made from orange pulp and wood fibers.
Startup Aiming to Redesign Food Industry, One Plant-Based ‘Suppa’ at a Time
Future Fit Foods’ line of nutritious, sustainably sourced, freeze-dried soups is the company’s first step in its mission to reinvent food from ingredients to packaging — and truly democratize sustainable nutrition.
Unilever to Ditch Fossil Fuel-Based Ingredients for Computer-Designed Enzymes in Cleaning Products
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. A partnership with biotech company Arzeda will see the companies computer designing new enzymes with superior benefits to help clean up the cleaning industry.
