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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.

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Tilonia Showing Economic Growth Doesn’t Have to Lead to Environmental Degradation

It is often presumed in the modern world that drawing people out of poverty results in higher carbon emissions and environmental impact; the biggest driver of greenhouse gas emissions has been economic growth. However, Tilonia®, an ethical accessories brand based in Rajasthan, India, has shown that the conventional growth model can be broken.

Social Delivery Service Nimber Set to Boost Sustainability of UK Delivery Sector

Having racked up over 10,000 deliveries and 30,000 members in its Scandinavian motherland since its 2013 launch, Norwegian social delivery service Nimber is set to plug a sustainability gap in the UK delivery sector, making use of unused capacity by using real people who are going somewhere anyway to make deliveries.The company estimates that to date its service has helped cut carbon emissions by 198.24 tonnes through the use of existing capacity to bring and send items to individuals and businesses.

Dear SB Vanguard: What Does the Rise of Unconventional Business Models Mean for Established Brands?

This is the latest in a series of posts in which we will poll our global community of business leaders and practitioners — the “SB Vanguard” — on a variety of issues pertinent to the evolving sustainable business landscape. Despite the continued growing pains of the “sharing economy” - unintended consequences (ex: Airbnb disrupting local home rental/sales markets), ambiguity around naming (sharing economy? peer-to-peer economy? collaborative economy?), regulatory snafus (hello, Uber!), etc - the proliferation of such business models points to a paradigm shift comparable to sustainability. What do you see as the future/potential of this trend, and of the opportunity for established brands within it?

As Long as CSR Is Linked to Profit, Just How Genuine Is It?

In these times of increasing corporate scrutiny, do we need a radical new definition of CSR? One that pretty much pushes the idea that companies need to take a financial hit in order to do social good? That solving the world’s most important environmental problems requires a level of business ‘altruism’ that can only be realistically achieved at the expense of the bottom line?

adidas Partners to Help End Ocean Destruction, Releases Sustainability Progress Report

Today, the adidas Group announced a partnership with Parley for the Oceans, an initiative dedicated to raising awareness about the beauty and fragility of the oceans and to collaborating on projects that can end their destruction. Together, the organizations will implement a long-term program that builds on three pillars: communication and education; research and innovation; and direct actions against ocean plastic pollution.

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L'Oréal Reduces CO2 Emissions 50% in First Year of Sustainable Development Plan

Just one year after the launch of its ambitious Sharing Beauty with All program for sustainable development, cosmetics giant the L'Oréal Group has today revealed significant improvements in the first progress reportof its efforts:

The 'Quaint Economy' 2.0: Will Etsy Be Selling Its Soul Along with Its Shares?

Etsy’s IPO begins trading tomorrow, Thursday, April 16th. The online craft marketplace will be the largest B Corp to go public.Etsy’s stated mission — “To reimagine commerce in ways that build a more fulfilling and lasting world” — is bold and decidedly social. Founder Rob Kalin launched the company in 2005 after struggling to find a place to sell his carpentry and artwork. He has been quoted as saying he started Etsy with sustainability and entrepreneurs, like himself, in mind, and that the enterprise would not become a ‘faceless corporation’ such as eBay or other online marketplaces.

BCFN Hosting Contest for Innovators Under 35 to Solve Global Food Problems

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition's (BCFN) Young Earth Solutions! (YES!) program is running its fourth innovation contest to encourage young researchers and university students under the age of 35 to develop innovative solutions to problems within the global food system.Past BCFN YES! finalist ideas include more informative food labels, the incorporation of more plant-based meals into school lunches, apps to help consumers make healthier choices, waste-free technology for fruit and vegetable processing and more.

’10 Million Better’ Campaign Rallying Travel, Tourism Industries Around Protecting Destinations, Communities

At the World Travel & Tourism Council 2015 Global Summit in Madrid today, Sustainable Travel International (STI) unveiled an industry-wide campaign, entitled “10 Million Better,” to monitor and scale up social and environmental benefits from travel and tourism.The 10-year initiative convenes leading tourism corporations, organizations and destinations around the globe with the goal of tracking and demonstrating improvements in the lives of at least 10 million people and their families by 2025. Improvements to be monitored include growth of income and opportunity, and better protection of destinations’ natural, cultural and heritage sites.

Nature-Inspired Innovation May Generate $425B by 2030

On April 24, the first annual Risk and Value Creation Forum, a finance innovation conference focused on evolving the concept of risk (as a key constraint in achieving sustainability goals), new risk frameworks, and biomimetic technology innovation as a sustainable value creation opportunity (at the startup and public company level), will take place in Mountain View, CA.

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New Peer-to-Peer Solar Sharing Network Aims to Make Solar Available to All Homeowners

Though the cost of solar panels continues to decline, many homeowners still can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars for a solar energy installation. Short of installing their own system, there aren’t a lot of options for sourcing residential solar energy especially for renters or those with poorly positioned roofs.Launched Monday, Yeloha, a peer-to-peer solar sharing network, hopes to change all that by making solar available to all homes through the purchase of a solar subscription, which is said to be cheaper than the cost of electricity from their utility.

Sony Pictures' Screen Gems Label Celebrating 10 Years of Environmental Innovation in Moviemaking

Today, Sony Pictures Entertainment — which itself has led the charge in sustainable filmmaking with its carbon-neutral production of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014) — is celebrating a decade of environmental innovation at its Screen Gems film label. The media giant says Screen Gems’ dedication to and implementation of creative, low-impact moviemaking practices has helped drive industry awareness of environmentally friendly technologies and new approaches to production.

Wells Fargo Launches $10 Million Initiative to Support Cleantech Startups

Today, Wells Fargo announced its selection of four clean technology startups for the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator (IN2), a five-year, $10 million program to foster leading-edge environmental technologies. The program is funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation and co-administered by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). This marks the first philanthropy program of its kind within the financial services industry.

Forget the Recycling Bin – If All Goes Well, You’ll Soon Be Able to Eat Your Water Bottle

The latest innovation in the fight against plastic water bottles comes in the form of an edible and flexible water “blob” container called the Ooho!, made by startup Skipping Rocks Lab. To use it, consumers can bite the blob and suck out the contents or eat the entire thing, casing and all.Asking people to carry around their own water bottles and containers has had limited success; unfortunately, it is often just more convenient to buy and drink from a disposable container. The Ooho! claims to offer that convenience without introducing more plastic into the waste stream.

Startup Hoping to Turn Computers Into Primary Source of Heat Generation

New York City-based tech startup Project Exergy is one step closer to developing a technology capable of heating smart homes using computers, following a successful crowdfunding campaign.The concept involves transferring the computation done in data centers into millions of home and office computers and putting the normally wasted heat to use through a liquid cooling system that can efficiently extract and thermally store the high-temperature heat.

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Optimizing Your Sustainability Roadmap: Lessons from Product Development Portfolio Management

As sustainability management becomes ever more closely linked to company resilience and reputation, CSR goals are coming into sharper focus for companies that are truly on the journey. But there are many choices to be made among a broad range of sustainability initiatives that could achieve those goals; just as in the world of product development, where there is an unlimited number of possible new product ideas and features, there will always be too many ideas and not enough resources. So how do you prioritize your company’s sustainability initiatives for maximum value and impact?

Banks Now Realizing Importance and Potential for Water Investments

According to the World Economic Forum, water scarcity ranks first among all long-term risks worldwide. Australia, Brazil and the United States are only a few examples of where droughts have affected everything from agriculture, hydropower and those everyday tasks most of take for granted. California’s annual snowpack this year was only 12 percent of normal — which has had a huge impact on the state’s skiing industry as well as its growing dairy sector. Finding solutions has proven to be a political minefield.

Worn Again Joins Forces with H&M, Kering to Create Circular Resource Model for Textiles

After years of searching for a solution to the worldwide problem of textile waste, pioneering textile upcycler Worn Again has joined forces with fashion retailer H&M and luxury, sport & lifestyle group Kering to bring to market a revolutionary innovation in clothing production and recycling.

Key Steps for Successfully Engaging Consumers to Eat Sustainably

Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. Everyday conversations about food are shifting from questions about whether to eat gluten or saturated fat to a new era in consumer food choices: sustainable diets. Some of this focus stems from recent findings reported by the federal government linking dietary choices to environmental impact and is bolstered by consumers’ awareness that their choices affect both their health and the environment. Consumers have long been seeking healthy food options and now the majority of consumers state that they intend to make changes in their diet for environmental reasons.

UN Refugee Agency Buys 10,000 of IKEA's Lightweight 'Better Shelters'

IKEA has announced that its line of flat-pack refugee shelters are going into production after being tested among refugee families in Ethiopia, Iraq and Lebanon.The “Better Shelter” is a temporary shelter with an expected lifespan of three years — far longer than conventional refugee shelters, which last about six months. Delivered in flat packs, it is designed with special attention to transport volume, weight, price, safety, health and comfort, and it can be assembled on site without additional tools and equipment. It also has a solar panel and lamp to provide light during the dark hours.

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