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.
In the weeks leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 4th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will get to know our 11 semi-finalists. Today, meet Sustainably Fresh Systems.I recently caught up with Larry Bell, CEO and Founder of Sustainably Fresh Systems (SFS), a startup that's determined to revolutionize the way fresh fish and other foods are transported, in order to maximize freshness and decrease the carbon footprint and packaging materials inherent in traditional methods of transporting fresh food around the world.
Unilever has announced the launch of The Unilever Foundry, a platform that will enable innovative startups to partner with Unilever.The company says the Foundry will enable its global brands to experiment with and pilot new technologies more efficiently, effectively and speedily. It will also provide startups and entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop and work on global projects, access mentoring from marketing professionals, and tap into a new source of funding through Unilever Ventures.
In the weeks leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 4th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will get to know our 11 semi-finalists. Today, meet Amazi. On a road trip a couple of years ago, Crystal Plew was looking for a place to refill her water bottle and thought, ‘there should be an app for that.’ From there, Amazi was born. Amazi, which means “water” in Rwanda, is an app developed to help eliminate the need for bottled water, while supporting water initiatives worldwide.
It is not often that a new venture with an unbelievable, yet-to-be-proven concept is overwhelmingly backed by investors. Zero Carbon Food (ZCF) is just such a venture — throwing conventional wisdom aside, the company's Growing Underground SW4 project has set out to grow food underground, away from the sun and fresh air. ZCF's equity crowdfunding campaign on CrowdCube has elicited a fantastic response from investors, already raising over 200 percent of its £300,000 (~US$500,000) goal with four days still remaining.
Ford Motor Company says it considers big data and analytics the next frontier for innovation, competition and productivity.At Sustainable Brands ’14 San Diego (June 2-5), Carrie Majeske, Ford’s Associate Director of Global Sustainability Integration, will participate in a panel discussion titled: Leveraging Big Data and the Quantified Self Movement to Drive a Sustainable Future.I caught up with her for a short preview.
Most sustainability initiatives are focused on improving the triple bottom line, but what about growing the business top line?
With 2013 sales of $21.4 billion, Colorado-based Arrow Electronics is one of the largest suppliers of electronics components in the world with 460 locations in 58 countries. Three years ago, the company underwent a complete corporate rebranding around the concept of innovation for “five years out.”Next month at Sustainable Brands 2014 San Diego, Rich Kylberg, Arrow’s VP of Global Marketing and Communications, will discuss how the company’s revamped brand message is best reflected through a new focus on innovative corporate social responsibility (CSR). I caught up with Rich for a short preview conversation.
Verizon is now accepting applications for its Powerful Answers Award, which offers a total of $6 million in prizes for ideas that have the power to create groundbreaking change.Verizon’s Powerful Answers Award invites innovators, developers and entrepreneurs to leverage Verizon’s technology to deliver world-changing solutions and social good. This year, the multimillion-dollar global competition will focus on four categories: Education, Healthcare, Sustainability and (a new category for 2014) Transportation.
In the weeks leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 4th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will get to know our 11 semi-finalists. Today, meet FoodLoop.
Cross-Posted from Chemistry, Materials & Packaging. Today Sprint announced it will be one of the first companies to use AirCarbon™, a new carbon-negative plastic made from methane gas, instead of petroleum. The material will be used in black and pink cell phone cases for the iPhone® 5 and iPhone® 5s that will be sold online exclusively on Sprint.com beginning later this month. Sprint says it is the first telecommunications company in the world to launch a carbon-negative product using AirCarbon.
SBIO 2013 finalist Thread, which creates fabric from plastic bottle waste collected in the developing world, has released a line of special-edition bags with its first partner, canvas bag manufacturer Moop. Each waxed canvas Moop + Thread bag — available in Messenger No.1 and Paperback styles, all designed and hand-manufactured at Moop’s Pittsburgh-based studio — is lined with fabric made from 16 plastic bottles.
In the weeks leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 4th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will get to know our 11 semi-finalists. Today, meet Okeanos.
Last fall, we introduced a startup called Bureo Skateboards, which aimed to build skateboards from the tons of plastic waste littering Chile’s beaches and waters. Founders Ben Kneppers and David Stover detailed the company’s journey from the idea phase to a multi-faceted funding structure. At the time, the two friends were reluctant to release many specifics about their final product line, as it was still pre-production, but last month they got back in touch, ready to discuss their next phase.
Some breweries in England are increasingly sourcing their hops from New Zealand and the US instead of buying closer to home, which generates a bigger carbon footprint. While chatting about beer over a pint at an Incredible Edible Lambeth event in the fall of 2011, Helen Steer and Ann Bodkin started thinking about how to engage a larger range of people in locally sourced food and drink. From that conversation, Grow Beer — a project to crowdsource hops from personal and community gardens for use at local breweries — was born.
In the lead-up to this year’s SB Innovation Open, we’re catching up with some of our favorite paradigm-disrupting startups from past years. This week, we have an update from SBIO 2013 finalist Isidore Electronics Recycling.Our last encounter with SBIO finalist Isidore was fairly dramatic. Right before the SBIO finals in San Diego last year, the young company experienced a warehouse fire, forcing them to regroup and relocate in a short period of time.
When I ran a crowdfunding campaign for Kuli Kuli last May, we had zero money, no full-time staff and a network that consisted mostly of other broke 20-somethings. And yet, within a day we had raised $22,000. We went on to raise $53,000 from 800 people, most of whom we’d never met.Prior to our Indiegogo campaign, even my close family and friends didn’t know what I was doing. My own father still couldn’t pronounce the name of the plant that we were trying to make the next big superfood (for reference it’s moringa — MO-ring-GA).
Patagonia has announced a strategic investment in CO2Nexus, a company that has developed a sustainable method of processing (cleaning, disinfecting and coating) textiles and garments using liquid carbon dioxide — which uses zero water, consumes less energy and generates very little waste.Patagonia made the investment through its $20 Million & Change fund, launched in 2013 to help innovative, like-minded startup companies bring about solutions to the environmental crisis through business. The investment caps a Series A round of investment for CO2Nexus, Patagonia says.
Now in its fourth year, the ASU Innovation Challenge, which provides ASU students “an opportunity to create products and services that address some of the greatest challenges facing the world today,” has awarded a total of $40,000 to 11 student-innovator teams, according to a recent announcement.
Socially conscious mobile provider BetterWorld Wireless, in collaboration with Sprint, today launches its Phone for PhoneTM mobile service, which will provide digital access to people in need by donating a mobile device for every qualified new US mobile customer.
In the lead-up to this year’s SB Innovation Open, we’re catching up with some of our favorite paradigm-disrupting startups from past years. This week, we have an update from LaborVoices.