Ross Brooks

Ross Brooks is tagged in 6 stories.

Can Calorie Counts Change Consumer Eating Habits? Or Will the Lure of a Quick, Delicious Fix Always Win Out?

Behavior Change / Anyone who exercises regularly or watches what they eat already knows that fast food is bad for your health. But due to the continued popularity of fast food, the FDA has stepped in to try and provide the general public with more information and get them eating better, announcing last week that fast food chains, vending machine companies and other restaurants with more than 20 locations are now required to list the number of calories in each of their menu items. - 8 years ago

New Initiative Helping Detroit Businesses Reduce Waste, Costs Through By-Product Synergy

The Next Economy / At a time when landfills are overflowing and public pressure is mounting, business can’t afford to waste anything – especially in a city such as Detroit, which is still fighting its way back from economic ruin.Thankfully, the Motor City has launched a promising new initiative that’s bringing together local industries and institutions, along with entrepreneurs and small business owners, to create closed-loop systems in which one organization’s waste becomes raw material for another. - 9 years ago

Diners in Austin, NYC Going Halfsies to Address Obesity, Food Waste, Hunger

Product, Service & Design Innovation / Controlling the size of your portions is a great way to save money, food and unnecessary health problems caused by obesity. Eating out, on the other hand, takes that control away from you — unless you go for a restaurant that’s signed up for Halfsies. Launched at the end of 2012 in Texas and New York, it’s an initiative that lets you donate half of your food before it even gets to the table. Apart from the warm, fuzzy feeling you'll get from giving, your waistline will be thankful as well. - 9 years ago

'Rag Bag' Makes It Easy for Shoppers to Donate Unwanted Clothes

Products and Design / Many of us buy new things even when we’ve already got a closet full of barely worn clothes. Swedish fashion label Uniforms for the Dedicated has come up with a creative way to alter that behavior with the Rag Bag, a biodegradable shopping bag that helps shoppers live up to the motto: “Donate something old every time you buy something new.” The pre-addressed and postage-paid carrier breaks down various barriers consumers might encounter before donating their unwanted clothes. - 9 years ago

Grass-Powered Mower Could Be Game-Changer for Suburban Lawns, Developing Nations Alike

Products and Design / Mowing the grass results in a lot of wasted biomass that could probably be put to better use. EcoMow is a small, self-fueled mower and grass pellet harvester that uses freshly cut grass as fuel and processes the biomass that it doesn’t use into a dried pellet form that can be used for other applications such as heating or power generation. - 9 years ago

H&M Converts Donated Clothes Into a New Denim Collection

Waste Not / It was almost one year ago that H&M launched its garment recycling initiative, and now the eco-friendly Swedish retailer plans to launch a new denim line made from recycled fibers at the end of February. The range of jeans, vests and jackets will all contain 20 percent recycled cotton, which is the maximum amount that can be used without compromising the quality. As the company puts its, this new project will “close the loop” on their recycling initiative. - 9 years ago