CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
To mark Global Handwashing Day (GHD) — October 15th — Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand has announced a significant expansion of its Help a Child Reach 5 campaign. Launched in February in Thesgora, India, a rural village known to have one of the highest rates of diarrhoea in the country, the campaign aims to end preventable deaths of children under five by changing hand-washing behaviors, one village at a time. Today, Lifebuoy has confirmed it will extend this program to communities and villages across 17 countries globally.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
CVS recently announced a partnership with health and well-being company Humana to help customers make sense of their healthcare coverage options under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).Starting this month, Humana representatives will be present at CVS’s Project Health events, where individuals can receive free health screenings to check blood pressure, body mass index, glucose, total cholesterol and even receive oral or dental care. During October and November, Humana representatives will be available to answer questions about health coverage under ACA at 80 Project Health weekly events in Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Michigan and Texas.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
While it might not win any Academy Awards, certainly the best title for a movie this year has to be the food industry critique, GMO OMG. On the surface, it is an attack on genetically modified seeds and what they are doing to our health. Underneath, it is an emotional play on a father’s frustration with the clarity of our food system. What is in our food and where does it come from?
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Chicago start-up F-Cubed, LLC (F3) is helping to stem the recurrence of infectious diseases across the food, health and environmental testing sectors with its disruptive invention — a portable diagnostic device that can analyze raw samples for pathogens in less than an hour.What does that mean?As an example of environmental testing, F3’s innovative analyzer can help swimmers avoid unforeseen illnesses by testing the bacteria levels within bodies of water.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
A pilot project to manufacture commercially viable products from recycled polyethylene fishing nets has been completed successfully in a collaboration between Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM - the Irish Sea Fisheries Board) and Liverpool-based plastics recycler Centriforce Products, according to Centriforce’s website.
If you want to find hotbeds of innovation, just look where there’s tension and instability.Healthcare is a great example. On one hand, chronic conditions are spiraling out of control at the same dizzying rate as healthcare costs. On the other hand, there’s an unprecedented interest among citizens in taking control of their own health, working to stay well instead of waiting to get sick.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
There was hardly an empty seat in the house for Jonah Sachs’ “crash course in masterful storytelling.” Attendees learned the history of oral tradition and why humans have used stories to take in and share information for thousands of years. Sachs shared a five-part strategy to telling stories that get shared and let everyone in the room practice telling their own stories using characters and morals that illustrated underlying core values. The session concluded with examples of successful story-based marketing campaigns, brand gifts and an overview on brand archetypes.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
Women, particularly in developing countries, face numerous challenges, including sexual violence, limited access to health resources, barriers to education and economic opportunities.
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.
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.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
CVS this week released its 2012 CSR Report, which gives stakeholders an inside view of the company’s strategy, priorities and performance on its sustainability goals and initiatives.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Oakland-based social enterprise Kuli Kuli is launching an Indiegogo campaign to leverage its “superfood” nutrition bar to help alleviate poverty in West Africa.Kuli Kuli Bars are gluten-free, raw and made with just a few simple all-natural ingredients, the company says. The bars also are low in calories but contain high amounts of fiber, protein and vitamins. The bars are made from moringa oleifera, a tree that has been widely documented for its vast nutritional properties and ability to grow in poor soil with little water.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Rennovia last week announced that it has created a process to make bio-based nylon materials that are nearly 25 percent cheaper to produce and emit half as much greenhouse gas emissions as conventional petroleum-derived substances.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
A poll conducted among several hospital administrators at the recent CleanMed 2013 Conference found most hospitals are increasing sustainability investments and committing to greener healing environments.
MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines says it will begin operating weekly transatlantic flights between New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport and Amsterdam’s Schiphol using a biofuel mixture consisting of 25 percent cooking oil and 75 percent jet fuel.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Extended producer responsibility (EPR) is gaining notoriety as a smart production and marketing strategy, as product take-back programs emerge as a major consumer trend.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Smoking kills. That shouldn’t come as much of a brow-raiser. But did you know that in most parts of the world, it’s not necessarily tar, nicotine and carcinogens that are leading to early deaths? It’s smoke.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Reckitt Benckiser, the parent company of well-known consumer brands such as Clearasil and Lysol, announced a new sustainability strategy targeting water conservation, more sustainable health and hygiene innovations for women, and further decreases of its carbon footprint.
COLLABORATION & CO-CREATION -
Ford announced a strategic collaboration that aims to demonstrate how a typical American family can significantly reduce their electricity bills and carbon footprint by integrating home appliance technology with a plug-in vehicle and solar power to achieve an energy-efficient lifestyle.
PRESS RELEASE -
New York, 15 October 2012 - Unilever and the Earth Institute today announced a new initiative to bring handwashing with soap – a lifesaving habit – to the Millennium Villages, a project that works with nearly 500,000 people in rural villages, across 10 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Prof.