Hannah Furlong
Editorial Assistant
Sustainable Brands
Giant Coffee Cup Bins Offer Paper Cup Recycling in New Social Experiment
Waste Not / Eleven bins shaped like giant coffee cups have popped up along one of Manchester’s busiest streets, Oxford Road. They’re part of a new campaign and social experiment from environment charity Hubbub that aims to give paper cup recycling #1MoreShot. - 6 years ago
MSC Continues to Make Waves: Sustainable Wild Catch Grows to 10% of Global Market
Supply Chain / Sustainable fishing practices are having lasting impact on fish stocks and marine ecosystems, in part due to successful voluntary certification schemes such as that of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). The organization’s latest Annual Report, released today, highlights growth in MSC-certified fisheries and supply chain. - 6 years ago
Chipotle’s New Videos Highlight Food Safety, Quality Ingredients
Marketing and Comms / On Tuesday, Chipotle celebrated National Taco Day by launching new chorizo tacos, but some have speculated that the promotional release might just be one more way the Tex-Mex chain is trying to regain customers following multiple food-safety scares last year. - 6 years ago
Trending: Chicken of the Sea, Google Set to Make Waves with Seafood Traceability Platforms
Cleantech / Following numerous reports of slave labor in seafood supply chains, traceability seems to have (finally) become a priority for the industry. - 6 years ago
Can Product Manufacturers Benefit from the Sharing Economy?
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Collaborative consumption, also called the sharing economy, is expected to continue growing as a trend, particularly as digital technology makes sharing marketplaces more commonplace and accessible. This shift away from individual ownership of goods could really hurt manufacturers – or, as a recent study suggests, could deliver them profit-making benefits if they adjust their prices and product design. - 6 years ago
Court Sides with US Forest Service: Nestlé Can Keep Bottling Water Despite 'Outdated' Permit
Supply Chain / On Wednesday, a federal court ruled in favor of the U.S. Forest Service regarding the lawsuit filed by environmental groups that sought to halt Nestlé Waters North America’s water-bottling operations in the San Bernardino Mountains. The motion was filed by the Courage Campaign, The Story of Stuff Project and the Center for Biological Diversity following a discovery that Nestlé’s permit might have expired 28 years ago. - 6 years ago
Gap, Mr Black Campaign Asks Consumers to ‘Clean Less, Do More’ with Their Denim
Behavior Change / High street apparel brand Gap and garment aftercare expert Mr. Black have partnered on a new campaign that highlights the links between denim care and sustainability. The two brands have joined forces to educate consumers that by adopting a simple aftercare routine it’s possible to prolong the lifespan of garments while saving water and energy. - 6 years ago
NRG Made This ‘Shoe Without a Footprint’ from Power Plant Emissions
Product, Service & Design Innovation / It’s no mystery why an energy company might explore applications for gaseous waste emitted from its power plants, but making shoes isn’t usually on the agenda. For NRG, shoes made from carbon dioxide emissions are just the beginning. - 6 years ago
Trending: Prize-Winning Startups Creating Soil, Infrastructure Tech of the Future
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Climate change demands new ways of thinking and startups have been rising to the challenge. Among the latest, the winners of the Living Product Prize and the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge took home cash prizes to develop their soil filtration systems and energy-generating windows, and a Voom business award-winning entrepreneur has plans to build plastic roads in Scotland. - 6 years ago
90 NGOs Asking the World to #BreakFreeFromPlastic
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / A network of 90 NGOs from around the world including big names such as Greenpeace, Oceana, the Story of Stuff Project, GAIA, 5Gyres and Clean Water Action have come together to launch a massive global movement to achieve a “future free from plastic pollution.” Under the banner Break Free From Plastic, the group aims to change society’s perception and use of plastics, as well as identify and pursue solutions that reduce and prevent plastic pollution. - 6 years ago
California Signs Most Ambitious Legislation Yet to Slash GHG Emissions
Leadership / California is about to face its biggest emissions reductions challenges yet, under new legislation signed late last week by Governor Jerry Brown. With a population of 38 million and growing, and a GDP of almost $2.5 trillion, California is the sixth-largest economy in the world – and now has one of the most ambitious mandates against climate change. - 6 years ago
Tuna Supply Chain Successfully Tracked, Traced Through Blockchain Tech
Cleantech / Consumers are hungry for greater transparency - especially when it comes to fish. A recent study found that more than half of consumers are willing to pay more for certified sustainable seafood products. Yet, the industry’s complicated global supply chains have made traceability a challenge and have allowed forced labor to thrive. - 6 years ago
€3.2M Behavior Change Campaign Aims to Reduce Food Waste, Boost Healthy Eating in London
Behavior Change / Households in London toss an estimated 900,000 tonnes of food each year, of which 540,000 tonnes could have been eaten. Starting this month and set to run for three years, the latest initiative led by Resource London aims to reduce this avoidable food waste and increase awareness of more healthy and sustainable eating – all while saving Londoners up to £330 million. - 6 years ago
New Project Set to Help European SMEs Transition to Circular Economy
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Businesses of all sizes can realize opportunities presented by the shift from linear ‘take, make, waste’ models and systems to circular ones. As the originator of the circular economy concept Walter R. Stahel once said, “A circular economy will directly create numerous jobs with a broad diversity of skills at local and regional level, and give rise to new SMEs [small and medium enterprises] exploiting opportunities in the local loops.” - 6 years ago
Knorr Campaign Asks Consumers to ‘Eat’ Less Water
Behavior Change / While consumers have become more aware of food waste issues thanks to media campaigns and numerous initiatives led by startups and large companies alike, such efforts tend to overlook the intricate relationship between food production and water scarcity. - 6 years ago
Design Awards Seek Cradle to Cradle Products, Circular Fashion Innovations
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Two design challenges are back and accepting new entries for products designed to help enable a sustainable future. The non-profit H&M Foundation is accepting applications for the second edition of its Global Change Award through October 31st, 2016. The competition is seeking early stage ideas that present new circular approaches for the fashion industry – whether by changing the way garments are designed, produced, shipped, bought, used, or recycled – by adding disruptive technology or using a new business model. - 6 years ago
New Film Drives Home Impacts of Single-Use Plastics on Oceans, Wildlife, Humans
Waste Not / A new short film featured by National Geographic highlights the plight of the Sargasso Sea – a diverse ecosystem of free-floating seaweed and unique wildlife – that is threatened by plastic waste. From microplastics to bioaccumulation, Care About the Ocean? Think Twice About Your Coffee Lid walks viewers through the dangers of plastic pollution in the Sargasso Sea (and other parts of the ocean) – and for human health. - 6 years ago
SAP Finds Savings of $33T, 7.6 Gigatons of Carbon in Digital Business
Cleantech / Six industries could enjoy massive savings and emissions cuts by digitizing their business processes and applying data to monitor resource use. According to SAP, Europe’s largest software company, each of the identified industries could cut at least half a gigaton of carbon emissions by making such changes, and together, they could help save around $33 trillion worth of resources and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7.6 gigatons by 2030. In order of highest potential emissions cuts, the six industries SAP identified are: utilities (2.2 gigatons); agriculture and food production (1.6 gigatons); transportation and logistics (1.5 gigatons); construction (1.1 gigatons); manufacturing (0.7 gigatons); and retail and consumer production (0.5 gigatons). - 6 years ago
Yet More Reports Tout Circular Economy as Road to Emissions Reduction, Job Creation
The Next Economy / A new report from relief and development charity Tearfund and the Institute of Development Studies suggests that businesses and governments could help save lives and create jobs by adopting a circular economy approach to waste management. - 6 years ago
Trending: US Court Approves Social Carbon Price; Canada, Mexico to Test Their Own Carbon Pricing
The Next Economy / A unanimous decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals has upheld the government’s right to use a social carbon price to inform policymaking. The verdict rejected an industry-backed litigation that challenged the Department of Energy (DOE)’s use of a $36/metric ton estimated social cost of carbon (SCC) in its decision-making on the premise that the figure is not based on “real-world” data. - 6 years ago