Hannah Furlong
Editorial Assistant
Sustainable Brands
Australian Companies Commit to Carbon Reduction Through We Mean Business
Leadership / On November 5, 12 Australian companies committed to climate action at the Australian Climate Leadership Summit in Sydney, an official lead-up event to the COP21 UN climate conference. They join over 250 other companies from around the world who have made commitments through the We Mean Business coalition, including over 40 multinationals that are headquartered or active in Australia. - 7 years ago
Trending: Behavior Change Campaigns Aim to Boost Recycling Rates in the US, UK
Behavior Change / Organizations in the United States and United Kingdom continue to concoct clever ways to convince their citizens that recycling is worthwhile. In England, a new behavior change campaign is trying to reinforce that every little bit helps: If every Londoner recycled one extra plastic bottle a week for a year, enough energy would be saved to power Wembley Stadium for two years – a venue that can hold 90,000 people. So Resource London is asking Londoners to recycle “just one thing,” in its new “Recycle for London” campaign. - 7 years ago
Beverage Packaging Artisans Get the Spotlight in Coca-Cola's New Short Film
Organizational Change / After spending much of her childhood in landfills near Mexico City, 22-year-old Sandy Yazmin Colohua Gomez is now one of the women who has gained financial independence and confidence through The Coca-Cola Company’s 5by20 initiative. The company has released a short film, 5by20: Meet the Artisans, to share the global impact of the initiative through stories such as Sandy’s. - 7 years ago
How Do Crickets and Algae Stack Up Against Beef?
Supply Chain / The growing world population’s increasing hunger for protein could lead to serious environmental repercussions. Livestock farming is still the primary source of protein, and has massive environmental impact compared to vegetable farming and other forms of agriculture. Beef remains the most resource-intensive to produce, but new research suggests the resource burden of other sources isn’t clean cut. - 7 years ago
UK Chef's New TV Show Waging 'War on Waste'
Waste Not / The latest celebrity chef-led TV show is going beyond delicious meals to dish out hard truths about waste. Chef-turned-food-waste-activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall “is on a mission to reduce the amount of waste that Britain produces,” in the new BBC One series, "Hugh’s War on Waste." - 7 years ago
Trending: Sustainable Clothing Sees 12% Water Use Reduction in UK, New Products on Kickstarter
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Around the world, more and more action is being taken to create a more sustainable clothing industry. In the U.K., waste reduction charity WRAP is seeing significant progress on its Sustainable Clothing Action Plan (SCAP). Meanwhile, two U.S.-based Kickstarter campaigns are offering sustainable, certified organic options: men’s denim made in America; and temperature-regulating base layers that use nanofibers from Austria. - 7 years ago
Trending: Researchers Finding Food Waste, Phytomining Could Yield Plant-Based Electronic Components
Waste Not / What if we could get rare metals for computers and smartphones from plants? What if food and beverage waste could be used to create components for LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes)? We’re one step closer to these realities thanks to scientists from Germany’s Freiberg University of Mining and Technology and engineers from the University of Utah. - 7 years ago
Orange Peels + Sulphur = Mercury Remediation?
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Researchers from Australia’s Flinders University say they have found a “dirt cheap” solution to mercury contamination. Dr. Justin Chalker and his students have developed a dark red polymer from industrial waste products — sulphur and limonene — that turns bright yellow when it absorbs mercury. The color change allows the material to be a mercury detector on top of its remediation capabilities. - 7 years ago
Indigenous Communities May Offer the Most Affordable, Effective Forest Protection
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Two new reports suggest that the best way to protect forests is to let indigenous and local communities manage them. Released Thursday, both reports provide evidence to support that community-led management is a financially and environmentally responsible approach to curbing deforestation. - 7 years ago
Obama Rejects Keystone XL After 7 Years of Drama, Debate, Protest
Leadership / Today, President Obama rejected the Keystone XL pipeline that would have connected Canada’s tar sands to refineries in Texas. The project became a symbol of the fight against climate change, making its rejection a huge victory for the “unprecedented coalition” of groups that came together to oppose it.In his announcement, the President said that he agrees with the State Department’s decision that the Keystone XL pipeline would not serve the country’s national interests, nor would it make a meaningful long-term contribution to the economy. - 7 years ago
Report: Serious Risks to UK Food System If We Don't Embrace 'Business Unusual' Approach to Food
Behavior Change / What will our food system look like 10 years from now? According to a new report from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), a sustainable, secure UK food system will depend on industry and government action to reframe issues and innovate. The waste-reduction charity predicts there will be new business opportunities in protein supply, data-enabled technology, and food designed for nutritional requirements. - 7 years ago
Restaurants, Manufacturers, Retailers Offer Best Practices in New Guide to Cutting Food Industry Waste
Waste Not / Food waste has proved to be a persistent global challenge despite numerous efforts to reduce it from stakeholders throughout the value chain, from corporates, to non-profits, to startups. At the same time, it may not be obvious to business owners and employees what they can do to be reducing food waste in their daily operations. - 7 years ago
Goldman Sachs to Invest $150B in Clean Energy by 2025
Cleantech / On Monday, The Goldman Sachs Group released its ambitious new Environmental Policy Framework, which includes bold targets and initiatives related to climate-change mitigation, adaptation, risk management, and operational impact. The company reports it is on schedule to be the first U.S. investment bank to be carbon neutral across its operations and business travel by the end of 2015, and has already invested $37 billion in clean energy since setting its $40 billion capital deployment goal in 2012. - 7 years ago
Trending: New Fashion Innovations Include Textiles Made from Deadstock, Synthetic Spider Silk
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / A synthetic spider silk parka, luxury knitwear made from deadstock yarns, and one-of-a-kind pieces from unwanted locally sourced materials are the latest sustainable clothing options. - 7 years ago
New Clooney Ad, Video Promoting Nespresso and Its Sustainability Program in the US
Product, Service & Design Innovation / After nine years as a spokesman for Nespresso in Europe, actor and activist George Clooney has finally agreed to promote the brand in North America. Television advertisements began airing yesterday, and online videos promoting the company’s social impact and sustainability commitments are part of the deal. Clooney is a member of the Nespresso Sustainability Advisory Board. - 7 years ago
Indonesia in Crisis: Fires Releasing More Emissions Than the Entire U.S. Economy
Behavior Change / Fires are raging across the 3,000 mile length of Indonesia, destroying tens of thousands of acres of forest. More than 127,000 forest fires have been detected so far this year, which is expected to be the worst on record. Visibility in some cities has been reduced to 30 yards by noxious orange haze. There have been more than 500,000 cases of acute respiratory illness and at least 19 deaths. - 7 years ago
Partnership for Freedom Launches $500K Challenge for Tech Solutions to Fight Forced Labor
Supply Chain / A public-private partnership has launched a new competition to combat modern-day slavery. Partnership for Freedom will award $500,000 in prizes to technological solutions that are selected as finalists for Rethink Supply Chains: The Tech Challenge to Fight Labor Trafficking. - 7 years ago
Tsk Tsk! Levi's Says Thoughtful Clothing Care Could Have Saved Californians 35B Liters of Water
Waste Not / Levi Strauss & Co. claims its consumer care recommendations could have saved California 35 billion liters of water over the past four years — the amount of time that the state has been experiencing a severe drought. - 7 years ago
New EWG Verification Identifies Personal Care Products Free of Toxic Ingredients
Marketing and Comms / Environmental health non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) has launched its new verification program to help consumers quickly and easily identify consumer goods that do not contain toxic ingredients. The EWG VERIFIED: For Your Health™ mark will appear on personal care products and cosmetics that meet criteria set by EWG scientists. - 7 years ago
Trending: Fetzer Vineyards, U.S. Department of Labor Celebrate B Corp Certification
Leadership / One of the highest standards for social and environmental responsibility in business, B Corp certification, was awarded to Fetzer Vineyards and praised by the U.S. Department of Labor last week. The certification developed by the non-profit B Lab now signifies over 1,400 responsibly run companies from 130 industries and 42 countries. The performance standards are comprehensive and transparent, and measure a company’s impact on all of its stakeholders, including workers, suppliers, community, and the environment. - 7 years ago