Hannah Furlong
Editorial Assistant
Sustainable Brands
Silk Launches Harvard Research Initiative to Examine Future Food Industry Challenges
Leadership / Earlier this month, plant-based food and beverages brand Silk announced a year-long sponsored research initiative with the Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHGE) at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, to investigate the perceptions of food industry challenges, including efforts to create a healthy and sustainable food supply for the estimated 9.6 billion people that will inhabit the planet by 2050. - 7 years ago
The Body Shop to Regenerate Over 18K Acres of Forest, Help Monkeys Find Love
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Deforested and degraded lands inhibit the ability of endangered plants and animals to grow and thrive again. Restored wildlife corridors such as “bio-bridges” within damaged landscapes can help re-establish plant populations and reconnect endangered animal populations to boost breeding. - 7 years ago
ExxonMobil, Chevron Face Shareholder Pressure to Address Risk, Adopt New Reporting Metric
New Metrics / Oil company shareholders are voting on resolutions today that propose to cut spending on opening new oilfields and change how they report reserves, among others. In Dallas, Texas, ExxonMobil shareholders are voting on four climate change-related resolutions, while Chevron has four such issues on the ballot for its Annual General Meeting in San Ramon, California. The same firms that convinced ExxonMobil to report on climate change and carbon asset risk in 2014, Arjuna Capital and As You Sow, are leading the charge again with these new proposals. - 7 years ago
Student Scientists Develop Bacteria That Could Take a Bite Out of Plastic Pollution
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / 21- and 22-year-old Jeanny Yao and Miranda Wang are making the most of their student years; since high school, the pair have filed 2 patents, founded a company, and raised about $400,000 in pursuit of developing a bacteria that can break down ocean-bound plastic waste. - 7 years ago
Trending: App, Connected Fridge Offer More Cool Ways to Cut Food Waste
Waste Not / France and the United Kingdom have been leaders in the fight against food waste: French retailer Intermarché’s “Inglorious Fruits and Vegetables” campaign paved the way for “ugly” produce around the globe, including UK grocery giant Asda’s successful “Wonky Veg” campaign, for example. - 7 years ago
Trending: Levi’s, EU Project Unlock New Ways to Turn Textile Waste Into New Products
The Next Economy / With dramatically large amounts of clothing and other textiles being thrown out every year – nearly 10 million tonnes in the United States and more than 3 million tonnes in European Union (EU) countries – it is no wonder why designers and companies are increasingly looking to this waste as a potential resource. - 7 years ago
Analysis Finds GMOs Are Safe, But May Not Increase Crop Yields
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Genetically engineered crops may be completely safe for human consumption – but they also are an unlikely solution to world hunger. A comprehensive new analysis found that genetically engineered (GE) crops, often called genetically modified organisms (GMOs) or biotech crops, do not appear to pose health risks, nor have they accelerated increases in yield. - 7 years ago
WRAP Breaks Down Food Waste in UK Grocery Supply Chain, Finds Millions in Potential Savings
Waste Not / The most in-depth examination of the grocery supply chain in the United Kingdom was released yesterday by the waste reduction experts at WRAP. The organization estimates that 1.9 million tonnes of food is wasted by UK grocery retailers and food manufacturers every year, and for the first time, broke down the overall avoidable food waste figures into manufacturing sub-sectors such as meat and dairy. According to the report, action to increase prevention of food waste could save businesses £300 million a year. - 7 years ago
Report: $3.5B+ Business Opportunity in Scaling Up Circular System for Plastics
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Plastic has many benefits ranging from reducing food waste by providing packaging to cutting transport pollution due to its light weight. However, waste plastic is undervalued by the economy due to externalization of environmental costs. In a new discussion paper, Trucost estimates that scaling up companies’ use of sustainable plastic could deliver environmental savings of $3.5 billion. - 7 years ago
Closed-Loop System for Medical Devices Saves Utah Orgs $250K, Diverts 60K Lbs of Waste
The Next Economy / From waste management to construction to apparel, circular economy models are gaining attention and proving effective in numerous industries. Even those in healthcare – an industry that requires the highest level of uncompromising performance – are beginning to re-evaluate linear product lifecycles. - 7 years ago
#BusinessCase: Circular Economy Helping Nike Double Its Business with Half the Impact
Product, Service & Design Innovation / On Wednesday, leading apparel and footwear brand Nike released its latest sustainability report and was announced as the newest Global Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Nike has made impressive progress during a period of continued growth, and recognizes that to continue as such, it must innovate on an unprecedented scale. The company has set “a vision for a low-carbon, closed-loop future as part of the company’s growth strategy.” - 7 years ago
Bolt Threads Raises $50M Series C, Partners with Patagonia to Pioneer Sustainable Textiles
Product, Service & Design Innovation / You’ve probably heard plenty of startups claim they can “revolutionize” their industry, but in the case of Bolt Threads, they may actually be right. The California-based biotechnology startup is already manufacturing its Engineered Silk™ protein at scale and made two big announcements this week at TechCrunch Disrupt NY: the conclusion of a $50 million Series C financing round, and a new partnership with apparel brand Patagonia. - 7 years ago
New Doc from Nat Geo, C&A Highlights Business Case for Organic Cotton Production
Collaboration / Cotton is planted on 2.4 percent of the world’s crop land and yet it accounts for 24 percent and 11 percent of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides, respectively. Organic cotton represents less than 1 percent of the global total annual crop, but National Geographic, international clothing brand C&A, and activist and filmmaker Alexandra Cousteau believe that needs to change. - 7 years ago
FDA to Redefine ‘Healthy,’ Affirms KIND Bars Can Use the Term
Marketing and Comms / Roughly a year ago, KIND Snacks CEO Daniel Lubetzky received a letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about his products. Among other nutrition claims, the FDA took issue with the use of the word “healthy” on KIND snack bar labels. Now, the FDA has not only affirmed that KIND can use “healthy” on its labels again, but also confirmed that it intends to reevaluate the regulatory definition of the term. - 7 years ago
WEF Report Outlines 30 Steps to a Circular Construction Industry
The Next Economy / The construction industry has been slower than most to adopt technological innovations, which has stagnated the sector’s labor productivity in the United States and elsewhere in the last 40 years. At the same time, the construction industry is the world’s largest consumer of raw materials, yet only a fraction of its waste gets recycled. According to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF), these factors coupled with the industry’s size and weight make construction ripe for disruptive transformation that could have profound benefits for the world. - 7 years ago
Trending: Schemes in NYC, South Korea Helping Business, Residents Eliminate Waste
Waste Not / South Korea has been using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and a ‘pay-as-you-waste’ system to help cut back on waste. In 2013, the country found that its waste had a particularly high liquid content – about 80 percent – which was leaching into soil and causing outbreaks of insects. Now, South Korea is using technology to both cut back on food waste and divert more of it for processing into animal feed and fertilizer. - 7 years ago
Spinach, Carrots Are Good for You … And for Making Prosthetics, Say UK Scientists
Chemistry, Materials & Packaging / Scientists in the United Kingdom are using spinach leaves and carrots to investigate selective formation of metallic nanoparticles in plastics. The researchers are working to form conductive circuits and create antimicrobial surfaces by accelerating the production of metals already embedded in treated plastic materials using chemicals from the plants. If successful, the practical applications include smart prosthetics, medical devices for hospitals, mobile phones, and other ‘smart’ surfaces. - 7 years ago
New Documentary Investigates Dire Realities, Small Victories, ‘What Climate Can’t Change’
Marketing and Comms / Academy-Award nominated filmmaker Josh Fox’s latest documentary opens with Fox dancing to The Beatles to celebrate a victory over the gas industry following the production of his startling previous release, Gasland. The new film, entitled How to Let Go of the World and Love All the Things Climate Can’t Change, is a journey across 12 countries on 6 continents that highlights the communities that are fighting back against fossil fuel extraction. - 7 years ago
Trending: Beverage Makers Turning Production Waste Into Biomass, Carbonation
Cleantech / The Arandas, Mexico-based Tequila Cazadores distillery has become a shining example of Bacardi’s “Good Spirited” corporate responsibility program. The facility is now 100 percent biomass-fueled thanks to a recently-installed biomass boiler, and about 60 percent of its biofuel comes from spent agave fibers from the distillation process. - 7 years ago
Zero Waste Europe Needs Your Help to Redesign Wasteful Products
Product, Service & Design Innovation / Brussels-based association Zero Waste Europe is developing a project to empower community groups across Europe to challenge wasteful products and facilitate stakeholder collaboration on their redesign. ‘The People’s Design Lab’ is expected to launch in June, but with only one week left in its campaign, Zero Waste Europe has raised just over €4,500 of its €8,000 goal. - 7 years ago