3p Contributor: Scott Cooney
Recent Articles
Humanure as a Path Out of Poverty For Slum Residents
If you don’t know what a flying toilet is, consider yourself very lucky.
Slums around the world are largely lacking on sanitation. A 2006 UN report found that two-thirds of residents in one section of Nairobi use a plastic bag as their main disposal method. Many times these bags are heaved through the air, sometimes by passersby, into the slums. In addition to being what will hopefully be the grossest thing you hear all day, these flying toilets create real problems for human health both inside the slums and out, as diseases breed and spread.
Now, thanks in part to funding from USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures fund, slum residents will soon have viable market-based solutions to these challenges.
Access Economy Startup Allows People to Rent Each Others Stuff
RentStuff.com, a new “access economy” startup, allows you to rent your things to others and make money. According to the site, it’s a “marketplace where you can rent *almost* anything.”
If you’ve ever been in a situation where you needed a four person tent and ended up buying one on Craigslist because you didn’t want to fork out $400 for a brand new one, but then found out the one on Craigslist had a giant hole in the screen, then you probably can guess the value of Rentstuff.com.
Collaborative consumption, the basic tenet of the “access economy” basically allows people to get by with owning less “stuff”. It’s also a great money saver, as most of the time our “stuff” is sitting idle. So on RentStuff, you can rent your neighbor’s circular saw. Because…how often do you actually need a circular saw?
So how does RentStuff work?
iZen Bamboo Keyboard Saves Tons of Plastic. And Looks Really Cool.
Made from 92% bamboo, the new iZen keyboard and iPad stand has the potential to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels by reducing our consumption of plastic. That’s great, but how many green products have we seen that fail the ultimate consumer test: they forget to include aesthetics, so only the most dedicated greenies purchase them. This one clearly went the extra mile and designed a gorgeous and functional product that can replace other, less eco-friendly electronics.
The keyboard works wirelessly with Bluetooth technology for Androids, Macs, iPhones, iPads and other tablet PCs, and many other devices. It has a built in rechargeable battery as well.
Verizon’s First Sustainability Report is…a Good First Step
Verizon, one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies, announced this week that it will cut its carbon intensity in half by 2020. Carbon intensity is usually referred to as a measure of CO2 produced per unit of output (in dollar terms). Verizon is using carbon intensity to measure “energy use per terabyte of data flowing through our networks.”
In the first combined company sustainability and annual report, Verizon says it has a “responsibility to be an effective steward of natural resources and have integrated that commitment into every facet of our business.” The company outlined several CSR strategies, among them energy efficiency and health care.
Health care? Verizon?
Adidas, Early Member of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, Drops from “Most Ethical” Companies List
The research-based Ethisphere Institute, an international think-tank working to advance best practices in business ethics, CSR, and sustainability recently released its rankings of the World’s Most Ethical Companies. Ethisphere provides third-party verifications of compliance and ethical cultures programs by companies. That puts it in a unique position to give an insiders perspective on corporate behavior.
Adidas, who helped get the Sustainable Apparel Coalition off the ground, was somewhat of a surprise disappearance from the Most Ethical Companies List this year. Patagonia, one of the other originators of the Coalition, remained on the list for the sixth consecutive year, as well as General Electric and Starbucks. Gap, Timberland and Israel-based Comme Il Faut were named to the list along with Patagonia in the Apparel industry.
Rising Gas Prices: Obama’s Foil?
Jobs are being created. Consumer confidence remains high. Housing stats are up for the first time in years. The global financial markets are, for the time being, stabilized. All of these are good signs if you are the campaign staff for Barack Obama’s reelection campaign. Sitting presidents tend to do better when the economy is going well, and while that’s hardly the only thing that matters, it was a factor that was supposed to count against Obama this year, but is instead picking up just in time to give him political credibility as he launches into a potential second term.
The one thing that came out of nowhere and seems to be causing Obama’s reelection team more jitters than a Venti Cappuccino is rising gas prices. According to the AAA Fuel Gauge, gas prices have jumped 18% since December. It’s having an effect, as consumer sentiment, a measure of how much consumers believe the economy is going well, dropped for the first time since August.
Impact Investing Expands in Hawai’i
The field of impact investing, wherein investors put money into ventures with an explicit mission for triple bottom line returns of financial, social and environmental benefit, is growing at a phenomenal rate. An upcoming impact investment conference in Hawai’i scheduled for February 9th is the first of its kind on the island state, and demonstrates just how prolific the relatively new field has gotten.
177 venture funds now identify as impact investors. The field has grown 600% over the past four years and currently is estimated at about $500 Billion in assets, according to statistics cited at SOCAP 2011, perhaps Impact Investing’s premier conference and showcase.
Big Island of Hawai’i Latest to Ban Plastic Bags
In December, the Hawai’i County Council passed a bill banning the use of plastic bags on what is known as the “Big Island” of Hawai’i. Yesterday, Mayor Billy Kenoi signed the bill into law. Kenoi had the option to simply abstain and let the bill pass into law, but his signature adds political credibility to the increasing trend of plastic bag bans across the world.
The Big Island now joins the islands of Maui and Kauai in the ban of plastic bags. Honolulu County, which contains the island of Oahu, where the majority of the population of the state of Hawai’i lives, has struggled to pass similar legislation, though a new version of a bill that has not passed yet will come before the county council this year.
Can Corporate Sponsorship Make Organics Affordable to All?
For the most part, organic food is expensive. The main criticism of organic is that it’s an elitist movement and leaves poor people out of the mix.
Here’s a thought I’d never even considered…could organic food be “sponsored?” After all, the brilliant content you rely on from TriplePundit every day for your daily dose of sanity is free to you as a result of sponsorships, as is Google’s blazing fast search engine, YouTube’s hours of entertainment, Facebook’s endless stream of useless tibits of people’s lives, LinkedIn’s career connections, and all the free magazines you find at your local grocery store.
So could the corporate sponsorship model be used to help bring down the cost of organics? Could Kung Fu Panda, the movie, help bring organic tofu to the masses? Could advertising something at your farmer’s market booth help you lower the price you need to charge customers?
Solar’s Best Quarter Ever
For the third quarter of 2011, solar installations in the U.S. broke a record: 449 megawatts of new capacity in just three months, according to a report by the Solar Energy Industry Association (SEIA). The fourth quarter is expected to be even larger, with many end-of-year projects coming on line.
The report cited a strong residential market, utility-scale project completions, and effective policies, all combined with the decreasing costs of solar panels. It’s a 140% growth year-over-year, but SEIA warns that the blistering growth is threatened by the potential expiration of the Treasury Department’s 1603 Program.
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