The latest products, services, design approaches and business models that are helping organizations of all sizes deliver on their sustainability ambitions and establish a new business as usual
In this Issue in Focus, guest editor Adam Werbach and the SB editorial team explore the broad range of radical economic and business-model innovations emerging, through which both startups and some of the top global brands are rethinking the future of business and creating new economic, environmental and social benefits.Discussion question:What do you think are the biggest challenges to overcome in the shift toward a circular economy?Join the conversation! Read More...
Sometimes an industry simply can’t move forward without changing the conversation and embracing more sustainable business models. Read More...
Global greenhouse gas emissions could be reduced by 9.1 billion metric tons by 2020, or 18.6 percent of all emissions in 2011, through the widespread adoption of machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies, according to a recent report by AT&T and the Carbon War Room. Read More...
Marks & Spencer will soon require all of its new retail stores to have green clauses in new leases to facilitate the sharing of waste information and utilities data in a collaborative effort to reduce carbon emissions. Read More...
To prepare for this year's Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) competition, we're catching up with some of our favorite entrepreneurial ventures from competitions past ...In most of the developed world, few of us give much thought to where our drinking water comes from. When thirsty, we need only to walk to the nearest faucet for an endless supply of fresh, potable water. Studies show the average American household wastes 100,000 to 200,000 gallons of water every year, while 780 million people in developing countries lack access to reliable drinking water — about one in nine people on the planet. Read More...
SolarCity has partnered with Honda to establish a $65 million investment fund to make solar power more affordable and available to Honda and Acura customers in the U.S. Read More...
Macy’s, Sprint and Johnson Controls will upgrade more than 200 million square feet of building space to cut energy use by at least 20 percent by 2020, as part of the Obama Administration’s Better Building Challenge. Read More...
Aluminum company Alcoa is lending its support to a longstanding research partnership between Honda and Ohio State University that could innovate auto manufacturing. Read More...
Greyhound has begun integrating telematics program DriveCam across its entire fleet to optimize safety performance and increase fuel efficiency. Read More...
With more than 2 billion cups consumed each day, coffee is one of the world’s most popular beverages. Most consumers of the black liquid hail from industrialized countries — over 90 percent of coffee production occurs in developing countries and out of the bulk of climate change regulations’ reach. Read More...
Sustainability is no longer a fleeting trend. It is becoming a standard practice of companies both large and small, across multiple industries here in the United States and around the world. The health care sector is no different. Read More...
To prepare for this year's Sustainable Brands Innovation Open (SBIO) competition, we're catching up with some of our favorite entrepreneurial ventures from competitions past ... Read More...
According to eMarketer, online apparel and accessories is the fastest growing category of online sales among nine major categories. Read More...
Calling all innovators and implementers! In March 2013, Sustainable Brands will launch a new “Issues in Focus” editorial package, including daily features, interviews and case studies on the circular economy as a driver of business model innovation and social good.The Issue in FocusYou can't get a soy latte these days without hearing the words collaborative consumption, the circular economy, crade-to-cradle or the sharing economy. But how are these quasi-utopian concepts becoming real? What implications could they have for the future of business and the economy? Read More...
Modular carpet company Interface launched a new competition this week inviting architects, designers and students to submit visions for how nature can influence the design of a new or existing space, both within built environments or outside. Read More...
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation today launched the Circular Economy 100 (CE100), a three-year program aimed at bringing together a network of 100 leading companies globally to facilitate development and commitment to new circular economy projects. The CE100 will provide executive education on key themes and emerging trends, share knowledge and new learnings, and identify and develop solutions to common challenges. The objective is that by 2015 participating companies will have triggered circular initiatives that will result in an aggregated economic benefit of $10bn for the businesses involved. Read More...
Outgoing U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced 13 major U.S. employers and eight stakeholder groups have joined the Department of Energy’s Workplace Charging Challenge, which aims to increase workplace charging by tenfold over the next five years. Read More...
Seventeen years ago, Indigenous cofounders Scott Leonard and Matt Reynolds were picking burs out of hand-knit South American sweaters before delivering them to The Nature Company. Read More...
Facebook and the Cleantech Group have asked contestants to submit concept pitches for products, applications or services that utilize the social network’s billion-person user base to reduce environmental impact and engage in conversation over sustainability challenges. Read More...
Is there such a thing as sustainable consumption? A new study by BBMG, GlobeScan and SustainAbility finds that a majority of consumers across six international markets are seeking to reconcile their desire for shopping and style with responsibility to the environment and society through their purchases. Read More...