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.
Could This Upcycled Sugar Company Help Solve the Obesity and Biodiversity Crises?
Supplant breaks down typically wasted agricultural fiber into its signature product, Sugars from Fiber — an entirely new category of sugars, which performs like sugar in the kitchen while retaining the nutritional properties of fiber, and mitigating the impacts of one of the world’s most environmentally destructive crops.
ISS National Lab, Estée Lauder Choose 2 Potential Plastic Pollution Solutions to Launch into Space
The Beyond Plastics Challenge aims to address the plastics dilemma on Earth through the design and production of solutions aided by access to space. The two winning concepts will be able to conduct research in the International Space Station’s unique, weightless environment.
Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute: Pushing a Safe and Just Circular Economy Into the Mainstream
As part of Shaw’s sustain[HUMAN]ability® Leadership Recognition Program, VP of Global Sustainability and Innovation Kellie Ballew recently spoke with C2CPII President and CEO Dr. Christina Raab about the evolving, interconnected nature of sustainability and the Institute’s work.
A Paradigm(ond) Shift: Lab-Grown Diamonds Are Changing the Meaning of Luxury
If you see a lab-grown diamond and a mined diamond side by side, they both elicit the same scintillating awe; but lab-grown gemstones don’t carry the injustices of their mined counterparts. For Aether and Sacet, transparency, ethics and regeneration are the future of luxury.
A New Era of Sports Sponsorship: Connecting Branded Merchandise with Circular Innovation
Cross-Posted from From Purpose to Action: Building a Sustainable Future Together. Despite more leagues and arenas introducing initiatives to curb waste from concessions and encourage recycling, the science and innovation necessary to create lasting impact across the board (or the court or field) are still missing. That's where Dow and its partners come in.
Meet the Company Turning Wine Waste into a Delectable Superfood Treat
Through its ongoing research and growing product offerings, WellVine aims to become the world’s premier source of plant-based nutrition and illustrate how upcycling can not only reduce food waste but demonstrate the highest and best use of a remarkable global food source.
Why Companies Are Lining Up to Meet Consumer Demand for Alternative Leathers
As the prior generation of plastic-based alternatives wanes, a host of new, animal and plant-based options are sprouting up — but challenges remain for unseating conventional leather.
This Cacao-Free Chocolate Startup Is Ready to Show ‘Big Chocolate’ a Sustainable Way Forward
“Our alternative chocolate is saying that this industry can function in a different way — and it doesn’t have to be stuck doing things it has been doing for 60 years, making billions of dollars a year off the hard work of farmers in West Africa.” — WNWN co-founder Johnny Drain
Circularity Is ‘Izzy’: Meet the Clean Beauty Startup Creating a Blueprint for a Waste-Free Industry
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. New York-based startup Izzy Zero Waste Beauty is out to show the incredibly wasteful beauty industry that it can mend its wicked ways — vastly reducing its footprint through a hyper-local supply chain and 100% refillable, recyclable products.
Alternative Proteins May Be Best Investment for Slowing Climate Change
Cross-Posted from Finance & Investment. New report finds that with 25% of global GHG emissions caused by the food value chain, the shift to alternative proteins may be the most capital-efficient and high-impact solution to addressing the climate crisis — and over 30% of consumers are ready to make the switch.
Carbios, On, Patagonia, PUMA, Salomon Team Up to Advance Circularity of Textiles
Cross-Posted from Waste Not. After achieving a milestone in packaging recycling, Carbios’ unique biological recycling technology stands to fundamentally change the circularity of textiles.
GoodSam Foods Out to Scale Regenerative, Farmer-Driven Model for Sustainable Snacks
Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. The three-year-old maker of snacks, coffee and other ethically sourced foods is aiming to show that brands can source from regenerative ag systems; but it will require a real commitment to working with rural communities who, for too long, have been left behind by the modern food system.
What Makes a Resale Company Truly Sustainable?
With the resale market for apparel alone estimated to grow to $77B billion by 2026, sustainability is sure to become an increasingly important factor for consumers to consider when debating where to sell and buy their used goods.
Smart, ‘Living’ Buildings Can Sense, Think and Act to Improve Sustainability
Our buildings have long been unresponsive, mute structures for housing, work and play. But the ongoing Fourth Industrial Revolution’s technological advances — high-speed connectivity, AI, the ability to acquire and analyze vast data streams — have enabled buildings to actively participate in their operations and use resources more efficiently.
This Startup Is Determined to Provide ‘Plenty’ of Jobs and Leafy Greens All Year Round
By teaming up with retail leader Walmart, San Francisco-based Plenty is set to supply California (for starters) with healthy, sustainable food at an affordable price, using only 1% of the land needed for traditional farming.
‘Changing Our DNA’: Brands Large and Small Illustrate New Models for Sustainability in Asia
On day two of SB’22 Kuala Lumpur, leaders in construction, eco-tourism, artisanal goods, marketing and more highlighted successes and challenges behind next-generation sustainability strategies — and the need for Malaysian brands to embrace collaboration for greater impact.
To Build Back Better Post-Pandemic, We Must Re-Examine Lessons Learned from the Past
Cross-Posted from The Next Economy. The pandemic has laid bare not only the many flaws in our global systems but also our capacity for resilience and ingenuity in the face of complex, immediate challenges — if we apply that thinking to those that lay ahead, we may yet save ourselves from ‘business as usual.’
Sustainable Food Systems Will Mean Coexistence, Not Competition
The meat sector in its current form is unsustainable; yet so is completely replacing the use of animals as a food technology. For the biggest and fastest environmental impact, we must address the way we grow our food. More sustainable models will involve coexistence between traditional and alternative production methods.
4VI Creates New Model for Destination Marketing Organizations by Becoming a Social Enterprise
Cross-Posted from Walking the Talk. Earlier this year, Tourism Vancouver Island evolved into a social enterprise called 4VI that supports communities, businesses, culture and environment. A social enterprise is a revenue-generating business that identifies a social benefit and directs its revenues toward it; in the tourism industry, this is a completely new way to operate.
AIA Materials Pledge Enables Architects, Designers to Create Spaces Where People and Natural Systems Thrive
The places where we work, play, eat, sleep, learn and heal can have an impact on our wellbeing. And everything from access to daylight and sound levels in a room to material selection and color schemes affects how we experience a space.
