Latest News
Shelton Group Hires Brooks Clark as Managing Editor
PRESS RELEASE - KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors, announced today that it has added Brooks Clark as Managing Editor of Shelton Insights, the agency’s soon-to-be-launched, web-based news service. “This is an exciting move for us a company because we’re expanding our service offering and exploring more ways to share our insights,” said Suzanne Shelton, founder and CEO of Shelton Group. “With Brooks’ extensive writing and editing experience, I know he will do a great job in pioneering this initiative.”
Shelton Group Study Shows Decline in Energy-Efficient Product Purchases and Home Improvements
PRESS RELEASE - KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Shelton Group, the nation’s leading marketing communications firm entirely focused in the sustainability and energy efficiency sectors, announced today that its latest Utility Pulse study shows that energy-saving habits have declined in the last three years. The national poll shows decreases in many behaviors, including those listed below: • Replacing incandescent bulbs with energy-efficient CFLs or LEDs, down 13 percent • Adding sealing, caulking or weatherstripping, down 17 percent • Purchasing a higher-efficiency/ENERGY STAR qualified appliance, down 6 percent In addition, the survey found: • 50 percent of Americans still don’t unplug chargers and un-used appliances • 40 percent don’t use energy-saving thermostat settings
Solar Conduction Dryer Wins Grand Prize in 2013 Dell Social Innovation Challenge
PRESS RELEASE - •Student team from India addresses the 20 to 30 percent food spoilage rate for poor rural farmers, via cost-effective dehydrators powered by solar conduction •Finalist projects range from new cancer diagnostic tool and nonprofit fundraising platform to solar power crowdsourcing and recycled shoes •Entrepreneurial students and their innovative ventures celebrated at finals event
GE Introduces New Membrane To Purify Tough-to-Treat Water
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - GE has developed a new membrane to purify tough-to-treat water such as wastewater from industrial processes that can reduce time between cleanings by as much as 50 percent.
Refrigerant Revolution: EOS Climate Turning GHGs from Liabilities to Assets
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Each week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature articles introducing our semi-finalists. This week, meet EOS Climate.Joe Madden, Todd English and Jeff Cohen met at graduate school in 2009, and created their company EOS Climate with the objective of tackling climate change by managing greenhouse gases with market-based approaches.
Reusable Transport Packaging: Good for the Planet, Operational Efficiency and Brand Protection
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Packaging. The term evokes images of wrappers, tubs, pouches and other types of product encasements we see on store shelves every day. Meanwhile, transport packaging such as pallets, cardboard boxes and plastic stretch wrap remain largely hidden from shoppers’ view.
Bridgestone Americas and Yulex Develop Renewable Alternative to Rubber
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - A little-known perennial shrub called guayule (pronounced why-u-lee), native to the Southwestern United States, has been tapped as a potential alternative natural source for rubber by Bridgestone Americas and agricultural-based biomaterials company, Yulex.
Producing Steel Without GHGs? And That's Not Even the Cool Part
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - In easily my favorite sustainability story of the week, researchers at MIT have developed a process to manufacture steel without any greenhouse gas (GHG) byproducts.
H&M, M&S, Benetton, Zara Commit to Fire and Building Safety Agreement in Bangladesh
SUPPLY CHAIN - H&M announced Monday it has publicly committed to supporting the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, which was initiated by IndustryALL Global Union and UNI Global Union in response to last month’s deadly building collapse that has claimed some 1100 lives.
#BetheStart Campaign – Week 3: More Vibrant Communities
MARKETING AND COMMS - Imagine a world where everyone could truthfully say they lived in a vibrant, trusting local community and global society — where our communities were places where residents felt engaged, supported, appreciated and valued; where the local economy was thriving, and participants feel proud to be part of their community and take an active role in helping to support this.
13 Hot Research Reports on Corporate Sustainability Issues, Tools and Trends
MARKETING AND COMMS - As the fourth and final piece in our 4-part series of ‘hot lists’ (check out our other picks for hot products, books and business model innovations), this week we introduce 13 hot research reports tracking the state of various aspects of corporate sustainability, as well as respective consumer attitudes and behaviors.
EcoShift Launches Enterprise Supply Chain Sustainability Platform
SUPPLY CHAIN - An Ecoshift development team led by three PhD environmental scientists and policy analysts has developed a cloud-based system to help companies engage with their suppliers and use sustainability information to improve supply chain performance and reduce risk.
What Are the Most Effective Ways to Drive Changes in Consumer Behavior?
BEHAVIOR CHANGE - Calling all innovators and implementers! Beginning in June, Sustainable Brands will launch a new “Issues in Focus” editorial package examining ways brands are “activating sustainability” — driving behavior change toward sustainable consumption.
BASF Licenses Genomatica Process for Creating BDO from Renewable Feedstock
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Chemical technology company Genomatica has announced a new partnership with BASF. The chemical giant has licensed Genomatica’s patented new manufacturing process for a renewable form of the organic compound 1,4-butanediol, more commonly known as BDO.BDO and its many derivatives are used for the production of plastics, solvents, electronic chemicals and elastic fibers.
5 Ways to Make Transparency a Brand Advantage
SUPPLY CHAIN - Pink slime. Pan-European traces of horsemeat. Escolar masquerading as white tuna. Some 30 states considering GMO-labeling legislation.The challenges and opportunities surrounding transparency affect consumers in ways that are deeply personal (if not downright intestinal) and raise the stakes for brands.
The Two Deficits: Why Conservatives and Progressives Are Both Right, Part One
MARKETING AND COMMS - This is the first in a multi-part series of posts that comprise Future 500 founder Bill Shireman's insightful essay, The Two Deficits, from the book Towards a New Agenda for America: Ideas To Bridge the Left and Right and Move the Natio
Sustainable Brands Unites Global Partners for First Look at Project on Sustainable Consumption and Consumer Behavior Change
PRESS RELEASE - SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 8, 2013 – Sustainable Brands® announced today that the Emerging Economies Consumer Behavior Change Project will launch at the Sustainable Brands Rio conference in Brazil.
Hyundai's Controversial Ad: Communicating Sustainability the Wrong Way?
MARKETING AND COMMS - Suicide may be painless in the song but it's a theme that's causing all sorts of grief for automaker Hyundai.
The Amplification Project: Translating Policy Research Into Action
MARKETING AND COMMS - Each week leading up to the Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) finals on June 5th, where the runner-up will be decided via live online public vote, we will feature articles introducing our semi-finalists. This week, meet The Amplification Project.“Advocacy is about persuasion, and connecting with the people that you’re trying to persuade,” says Richard Greenberg, founder of The Amplification Project, a socially and environmentally conscious company whose mission is to “translate policy research into action.”
White Paper: Sprint Improved Packaging Sustainability 55 Percent in Three Years
PRESS RELEASE - According to a recently published white paper, Sprint [NYSE: S] has made drastic improvements in the environmental impact of its device packaging. The paper, The Evolution of Greener Device Packaging at Sprint, closely examines the impacts of Sprint-branded device packaging from 2009 to 2012.
