Hannah Furlong
Editorial Assistant
Sustainable Brands
Campaign: 'Stop Hogging All the Water, Save Some for Wildlife'
Waste Not / Bad news: You might be a water hog. Americans use more water per person than anyone else in the world – 27 billion gallons every day. Unfortunately, it is the river systems, lakes and wetlands and the wildlife of those habitats that suffer the most as a result of reckless water consumption. A new campaign is trying to call attention to the issue, engage people, and help them learn how to save water for wildlife. - 7 years ago
Indonesian Paper Giants Commit Over $100M Towards Forest, Peatland Restoration
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Amidst the bustle of COP21, Indonesian forests have received some pretty good news. After weeks of devastating fires, APRIL Group and Asia Pulp and Paper (APP), two of the world’s largest pulp and paper companies, have made strong reforestation commitments. - 7 years ago
Trending: UK Retailers Fighting Food Waste Through Investment, Redistribution
Product, Service & Design Innovation / The United Kingdom wastes more food than any other European country; a 2014 House of Lords report estimated 15 million tonnes of food per year are wasted in the UK, at a cost of £5 billion, and the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has estimated the average UK household with children spends £700 per year on food that could be eaten but is thrown away. - 7 years ago
EU Adopts Circular Economy Package, But Is It Good Enough?
The Next Economy / Stakeholders are yet again criticizing the European Commission’s new Circular Economy Package. The original policy, released in December of last year, was denounced as insufficiently ambitious, resulting in its dismissal and a review process over the course of 2015. The Commission adopted the revised package on December 2nd, but some claim the new policy is even weaker than the original. - 7 years ago
Gates, Branson, Zuckerberg, Bezos, and Ma Launch Breakthrough Energy Coalition
Cleantech / “We need innovation that gives us energy that’s cheaper than today’s hydrocarbon energy, that has zero CO2 emissions, and that’s as reliable as today’s overall energy system. And when you put all those requirements together, we need an energy miracle,” Bill Gates recently told The Atlantic. - 7 years ago
“Bikes vs Cars” Wants to Liberate Cities from Traffic Jams and Urban Sprawl
Behavior Change / Could the bicycle be the tool for change that our cities need? A new documentary and a related app are hoping to inspire better design, smarter political decisions, and reduced CO2 emissions in the urban planning process by shining a light on the bicycle and its growing conflict with the car. - 7 years ago
Waste, Bioplastics and Edible Packaging Solutions Shine as Carlsberg Green Ideas Finalists
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / In September and October, Carlsberg Group accepted submissions for its "Cheers to Green Ideas" competition, hosted in partnership with think tank Sustainia. The competition asked people and organizations from around the world to submit their ideas about how to make Carlsberg more sustainable. - 7 years ago
Documentary Causing a STINK! Over Chemicals in Products
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / A new documentary is racking up awards across the United States, exposing the dangers hidden in the products found on store shelves. Director Jon Whelan stumbled across the issue of undisclosed chemicals when he noticed a foul smell from a pair of pajamas he purchased for his daughter. The film, aptly titled STINK!, follows his journey to uncover the source of products’ odors and what “fragrance” on a label really means. - 7 years ago
55 Brands Are Protecting Forests with CanopyStyle
Supply Chain / Not-for-profit environmental organization Canopy has recruited big fashion brands in the fight to protect endangered forests since launching its CanopyStyle campaign in October 2013. Last week, the organization announced that Arcadia Group, C&A China, and Lindex joined the initiative and committed to ensuring their supply chains do not use ancient and endangered forests for fabrics such as rayon and viscose by 2017. - 7 years ago
Trending: Desalination Tech ‘On Ice’ and in the Desert
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Water scarcity is among the most serious long-term risks facing society worldwide. Climate impacts are worsening drought conditions, causing billions of dollars in economic losses and fresh water supplies are dwindling. To make matters worse, 97 percent of the planet’s water is salt water, 2 percent is glacier ice, and just 1 percent is usable fresh water. - 7 years ago
Nutrition, Wine, IoT, Big Data, AI Come Together at Food+Tech Accelerator
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Reimagine Food, an organization on a mission to create an “ecosystem for the techno-food revolution,” has announced the second edition of its Prometheus accelerator program. Touted as the first disruptive food and tech program in the world, Prometheus will accept startups using emerging technologies to create food sector solutions. - 7 years ago
New Startup Accelerator Will Catalyze Cleantech in the Middle East
Cleantech / Renewable energy company Masdar kicked off its Innovation Week activities by announcing the Middle East’s first startup accelerator focused on sustainability and clean tech. - 7 years ago
'Oscars of Innovation' Award Dow with Most Wins of Any Packaging Developer
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / The 2015 winners of the annual R&D 100 Awards were announced on November 13 in Las Vegas. Often referred to as the “Oscars of Innovation,” the awards recognize technology inventions commercialized in the past year. The Dow Chemical Company had the largest number of nominations and winners of any single developer, with 21 nominations and six awards.The winning Dow products included two packaging solutions, a paint modifier, an adhesive, a power cable insulation, and a solder: - 7 years ago
Levi’s and Goodwill Are Making It Easier to Donate Clothes This Holiday Season
Waste Not / Only 15 percent of textile waste is donated or recycled in the United States. About 21 billion pounds of clothing, footwear, towels, bedding, drapery, and other textiles end up in American landfills every year, which adds up to more than 5 percent of the country’s municipal solid waste. At the same time, textile recyclers claim that up to 95 percent of textiles can be reused or recycled. - 7 years ago
Adidas Kicks Microbeads to the Curb
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Athletics brand adidas will end the use of microbeads in its body care products by January 1, 2016. With the help of its license partner Coty, adidas has outpaced body care industry giants in eliminating the plastic beads from their products. - 7 years ago
Microsoft Helps Launch R2 Ready for Reuse Label Pilot for Refurbished Computers
The Next Economy / With an estimated 41.8 million tonnes of e-waste generated in 2014, recycling and refurbishing our machines is an increasingly important issue. Perhaps more importantly, consumers need to be convinced to recycle their devices and that refurbished ones can be trusted as functional and reliable. Luckily, a certification for responsibly refurbished computers is on the way. - 7 years ago
AT&T to Enable Carbon Savings 10 Times the Footprint of Its Operations by 2025
Cleantech / On November 18, telecommunications company AT&T announced goals for 2025. The goals represent the company’s first long-term roadmap for its citizenship and sustainability work, and focus on three areas: networks and customers, supply chain, and communities.The three corresponding goals for 2025 are: - 7 years ago
TOMS Launches Social Entrepreneurship Fund
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Apparel brand TOMS, the poster child of the one-for-one business model, is taking its support for fellow purpose-driven businesses to the next level. The newly launched TOMS Social Entrepreneurship Fund is investing in up-and-coming startups that can make a difference. - 7 years ago
Palm Oil Giant Commits to Help Indonesia Through Peatland Rehabilitation, Traceability
Product, Service & Design Innovation / On Monday, Golden Agri-Resources (GAR), the world’s second-largest palm oil producer, launched a peatland rehabilitation project in Indonesia and committed to 100 percent traceability to mill by the end of 2015. - 7 years ago
Walmart Workers Launch #FastFor15 Movement for $15/Hr, Full-Time Pay
Organizational Change / Walmart employees’ low wages make it difficult for them to meet ends meet, and many go hungry or require assistance from local programs and food banks, according to OUR Walmart - a worker-led organization focused on pressuring the world’s largest retailer to pay its workers $15 an hour and extend full-time employment. To bring the issue to the attention of the Walton family leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday, OUR Walmart has launched a “Fast for 15” initiative. - 7 years ago