Mike Hower
Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
UK Startup Crowdfunding to Bring World’s First Solar Paint to Market
London-based startup SolarLayer claims to have developed a new additive for paints, coatings and flooring that transforms any surface into a solar energy receptor.Through its application, any roof, wall, street or path becomes a photovoltaic generato... View More
Investors Worth $1.5 Trillion Support Federal Methane Emissions Reduction Plan
Leading investors representing $1.5 trillion in assets under management released a statement of support on Thursday for a strong federal standard to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, according to Ceres. The White House’s propo... View More
Report: Sustainability Innovation Powering Business Growth
Revenues from company-defined portfolios of sustainable products and services grew by 91 percent between 2010 and 2013, according to a new report by The Conference Board, a public interest research association.For S&P Global 100 companies that br... View More
Report: Here's How to Engage Employees in Brazil, China
To assist corporate responsibility practitioners as they help international employees give back to their communities, Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) has produced a report offering practical advice for establishing successful programs in f... View More
AT&T, Verizon Pledge to Improve Energy Efficiency of Home Internet Equipment
AT&T, Verizon, and Cisco are among the dozens of internet service providers, equipment suppliers and retail equipment manufacturers to join the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and the National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NC... View More
Report: Major Gap in Sustainability Adoption Between Large, Small Office Buildings
More than 60 percent of large buildings qualify as “green,” compared to less than 5 percent of small buildings, according to a new study by CBRE Group and Maastricht University.The 2015 Green Building Adoption Index, a joint project of CBRE and M... View More
Trending: New Benchmark, Indices Show Continued Momentum Behind Impact Investing
Private impact investment funds — specifically private equity and venture capital funds — that pursue social impact objectives have recorded financial returns in line with a comparative universe of funds that only pursue financial returns, accord... View More
UN Global Compact Unveils Website to Spur Sustainable Business
The UN Global Compact (UNGC) has launched a new official website aimed at spurring corporate sustainability action.Designed to support business at all stages along the corporate sustainability journey — from those companies that are just learning h... View More
Wells Fargo, USCM Honor Cities for Best Neighborhood Stabilization Programs
The mayors of Baltimore, MD, Little Rock, AR and West Sacramento, CA have been recognized with top honors in an awards program administered by The U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.Presented Monday at USCM’s ... View More
First Annual Recyclebank Awards Honor Cities That Cut Waste
Recyclebank, which claims to to inspire and reward smarter, everyday choices for a more sustainable future, has named Mayor Bryan Barnett of Rochester Hills, MI “Mayor of the Year” as part of the first annual Recyclebank Awards.The awards recogni... View More
How Digital Mapping Is Helping Detroit Fight Urban Blight
As previously functioning urban areas fall into disrepair, urban blight increasingly is afflicting cities across the United States. Characterized by high local unemployment and crime, political disenfranchisement and depopulation, in some of these ar... View More
Ecolab Helped Customers Save 115 Billion Gallons of Water in 2014
Ecolab’s efforts to help customers reduce, reuse, manage and treat water more efficiently led to a savings of 115 billion gallons of water in 2014, according to the company’s 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report, released Thursday.The company als... View More
Verb Secures $2.3M in Seed Funding to Help Social Entrepreneurs Solve 'Wicked' Problems
Social enterprise Verb has closed $2.3 million in series seed funding — one of the largest rounds ever for an Austin-based social enterprise, according to a recent announcement.The investment capital will be used to fund global expansion, platform ... View More
Stanford Scientists Create ‘Designer Carbon’ That Improves Battery Performance
Stanford scientists have created a new carbon material that “significantly” boosts the performance of batteries and supercapacitors, according to a new study published in ACS Central Science.Zhenan Bao, senior author of the study and a professor ... View More
Ceres Releases Water Risk Disclosure Search Tool
Ceres has released a new search tool that enables users to access water risk disclosures in company filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).The SEC Sustainability Disclosure Search tool allows users to find disclosures in 4,500... View More
GSK, Save the Children Launch Program to Protect Kids During Climate Disasters
Healthcare firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), Columbia University’s National Center for Disaster Preparedness (NCDP) and Save the Children have announced a partnership to protect the millions of children who are at risk of natural or man-made climate disa... View More
Morgan Stanley Closes Issuance of Inaugural $500 Million Green Bond
Morgan Stanley has announced that it closed on the issuance of a $500 million green bond, its first green bond, as part of the company’s strategy to advance market-based solutions to social and environmental challenges.Funds equal to the net procee... View More
Interface Set to Scale 'Net-Works' Program That Turns Fishing Nets Into Carpet
Net-Works, a social entrepreneurship initiative from carpet manufacturer Interface and conservation charity Zoological Society of London (ZSL), has since 2012 collected more than 66,860 kilos of nets from residents in 14 collection sites in Danajon B... View More
Healthcare Firms Top 2015 Newsweek Green Rankings
Pharmaceutical companies Biogen, SHIRE and Allergan led the Global 500 in the 2015 Newsweek Green Rankings, a popular assessment of corporate environmental performance.Reckitt Benckiser Group, Adobe Systems, Swisscom, Unilever, Broadcom Corporation, ... View More
Back to the Roots Discusses $2 Million Investment From Top Food, Tech CEOs
Oakland-based food startup Back to the Roots (BTTR) today announced the close of its first round of funding, raising $2 million to accelerate its mission to undo food and build the “new Kraft Foods.” ... View More
