How are We Going to Solve the Water (and Sanitation) Crisis?
Posted by Matthew Savage November 19th, 2009 
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Here’s the deal. 1 billion people lack access to clean water. 2.5 billion people lack access to adequate sanitation. Every year 3 to 5 million people die from water-related diseases.
Water will surely be the biggest issue of our time, globally. So, what are the strategies being used to bring clean water and sanitation to the poor? I attended some water-related sessions at the 2009 Net Impact Conference last weekend, investigating what some organizations are doing in Latin America, Asia and Africa.
Three of the main themes that I identified were: empowerment, ownership and self-reliance. Bringing clean water solutions to the developing world requires systems that help empower the local communities – helping mobilize the women and creating entrepreneurs – as well as creating a solution that communities feel they own; solutions must fit into the culture. Self-reliance refers to the fact that NGO’s historically have brought solutions to communities without a long-term plan in place for maintenance and within 3 to 5 years the systems are in disrepair or abandoned.
Coca-Cola Rolls Out Plant-Based Recyclable Bottles
Posted by BC Upham November 16th, 2009 12 Comments
Seemingly every day a different company announces a new greening initiative, so when Coca-Cola said this morning that it has begun distributing plastic bottles of Coke and other beverages made with up to 30% plant-based material, it might have seemed like just another press release.
In fact, consider it a milestone. The Coca-Cola cursive logo is the most recognized consumer brand in the world, and now, in some places, it will have a little green stamp on it, symbolizing not only that company’s sustainability efforts, but the degree to which green thinking has penetrated the corporate mindset.
Introducing PlantBottle
The Coca-Cola Company dubs the new packaging PlantBottle, and boasts that it is the first-to-market plant based PET plastic bottle in the industry. PlantBottle is already on the shelves in eco-conscious Denmark (in time for Copenhagen) and will be introduced in Canada in December, and San Francisco, LA and Seattle in January.
Johnson & Johnson’s Sustainability Strategy Includes Avoiding Greenwashing
Posted by Nayelli Gonzalez November 14th, 2009 0 Comments
When you hear the name Johnson & Johnson, you might think about baby oil, baby powder and band-aids–and not necessarily think of them as leaders in sustainability. At a speaker panel at the Net Impact Conference on Friday, several J&J company leaders spoke to how the company’s Credo is the backbone of its sustainability strategy and how they have avoided greenwashing as they implement their “Healthy Planet 2010 goals.”
During the talk, Al Iannuzzi, Senior Director of J&J’s Worldwide Environmental Health & Safety unit, told a story of his early days as an environmentalist in the 1970s who believed that “corporations are evil.” He resisted working for big corporations until he read J&J’s Credo–which upholds its responsibility to its employees, the environment and communities–and found an interesting job within the company. He’s been with J&J now for nearly 30 years and wants everyone to know how J&J is using business for good.
Join me at the Academy Awards of Cleantech
Posted by Amie Vaccaro November 12th, 2009 1 Comment
This year’s Cleantech Open Awards Gala (Tues Nov 17th in San Francisco) is not to be missed. Along with Bill Roth, I’ll be covering the event for TriplePundit. Last year’s event was phenomenal and this year promises to be bigger and better.
The Cleantech Open launched in 2006 and has grown tremendously since. The mission is to “find, fund and foster the big ideas” that address today’s toughest challenges and to date 125 cleantech start-ups have benefited from the organization’s funding and resources. A tribute to the the organization’s strength in finding and nurturing high potential companies, Cleantech Open startups have raised $130 million in private funding, and have created 500 jobs to date. Each year the quality of the applicants has grown as well — a good sign for a still quite nascent industry.
This year’s gala brings together finalists from three Cleantech Open regions – California, Pacific Northwest, and Rocky Mountain - to select a winner, who will receive $250,000 in cash and services. From the all-star line-up of contending start-ups I’m excited to learn more about:
- How Green Lite Motors commuter vehicle gets 100 miles per gallon
- How Micromidas converts raw sewage into biodegradable plastic
- How SunTrac Solar makes a solar hot water heater which captures 50 to 70% of solar energy
- How Alphabet Energy plans to convert waste energy into electricity at low cost
- How tru2earth’s Life Cycle Roof Tile made of recycled plastic bottles is as cheap as asphalt and captures rainwater
- Plus interact with 120 cleantech companies at the pre-gala expo. Register here.
Who are you rooting for?
EPA Data Center Cuts Waste, Finds Savings
Posted by Mary Catherine O'Connor November 12th, 2009 0 Comments
The Green Grid, an IT industry consortium that is studying and seeking to standardize metrics, processes, methods and new technologies to make data centers more energy efficient, partnered last year with the Environmental Protection Agency in an effort to assess the energy consumption at typical small to mid-sized data centers, set in motion energy-saving measures, and then develop a set of recommendations for energy efficiency improvements.
In the study, the EPA acted as the guinea pig—the study centered on its data center located at One Potomac Yard near Washington, DC.
By making a number of changes—many of them simple and requiring little capital, the center was able to increase its energy efficiency by 20 percent. The steps will also save the center $15,000 per year in energy costs.
Greenhouse Gas Accountants to the Rescue!
Posted by BC Upham November 12th, 2009 0 Comments
Lost in all the talk about whether or when nations and industries will have emissions targets, is the question of who, exactly, is going to measure those targets.
Without a pool of trained and certified professional GHG managers, climate change initiatives — from the United Nations Framework down to the sustainability plan for the shop around the corner — could stall.
Worse, a lack of accountability could turn the “greenhouse gas expert” into the snake oil salesman of the 21st century, peddling a dubious product whose ingredients change from one bottle to the next.
Enter the Greenhouse Gas Management Institute. The Institute provides professional training in greenhouse gas accounting and verification, primarily online, and its ultimate goal is to create a professional society for greenhouse gas accountants and verifiers, similar to the way other fields — architecture, law, medicine, accounting — have national or international certification bodies.
The Institute was launched in 2007 as a non-profit by Michael Gillenwater and Tom Baumann, two recognized experts in emissions measurement, who realized that there was an emerging need for standardization in their field.
10 Business Leadership Skillsets Needed for Our Uncertain Future
Posted by Scott Cooney November 11th, 2009 2 Comments
Green America’s Green Business Conference is going on today and tomorrow in beautiful San Francisco, CA, in advance of the weekend’s Green Festival. The conference opened with a talk by Bob Johansen, author of Leaders Make the Future, and futurist with the Palo Alto based Institute for the Future.
According to Johansen, businesses today are operating in a society that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. It’s a VUCA world, in short. The Institute studies the business community and its leaders, and finds that what we want in the business community is 1) clarity for where we’re going, and 2) flexibility on how we get there. The Institute has characterized 10 leadership skillsets for living and thriving in this VUCA world and achieving these aims. These will help business leaders clarifying goals on where their business is heading, and how they can get there.
The leadership skills go from the most common and simplest to achieve, to the most complex and actualized of intangible assets:
- The maker instinct: that intuition we have to ‘build something.’
- Clarity: ability to see past the noise and have a vision of what the future may look like.
- Constructive depolarizing: ability to calm a tense situation, reestablish broken lines of communication, and branch divergent interests together.
California Group Blames Immigrants for Climate Change
Posted by BC Upham November 10th, 2009 13 Comments
A California anti-immigration group has created a multimedia ad campaign blaming immigrants for climate change and environmental degradation in California. Californians for Population Stabilization, or CAP, argues that immigrants, legal and illegal, increase their carbon footprint four-fold when they move to the US and “Americanize” their consumption habits, thus exacerbating climate problems.
Listen to the radio ad here.
According to CAP President Diane Hull, “Californians [have] made significant progress in energy conservation over the last couple of decades. However, the progress has been mitigated by massive population growth over the same period, driven by immigration and births to immigrants.” Hull continues:
Business Not As Usual: Astroturfing Follows Congressional Lead, And More
Posted by John Laumer November 9th, 2009 1 Comment
- US corporate-funded astroturfing continues, like a game of whack-a-mole. Expose one of these vampire moles to the light and another one pops up in a different sector. A uniquely American enterprise, the common thread which seems to tie all astroturfing together is Congress. Threaten Federal legislation and up comes a bloody gopher. Have a look at Americans Against Food Taxes?: Who’s Really Fighting Preventative Medicine? for a recent example. Business significance: U5/C3
Give more, Useless
Posted by Audrey November 6th, 2009 4 Comments
Believe me, USELESS, I get it. I get the point you’re trying to make. Your anti-consumerism, “Use less, give more” message is not a new one. However, following it with a list of products to purchase definitely is.
I understand that you mean to be somewhat ironic. And I get how handy it is that when you combine the words “use” and “less” into one word, you end up with “useless” (somehow I suspect that’s how this whole company came about – clever name first, company second).
And sure, your cleverly designed hoodies are made of organic cotton and your cute, logoed bottles are BPA free. And I appreciate that you donate 10% of your profits to fund water and sanitation projects in the developing world. You’re better than a lot of companies out there. BUT, you’re still selling products!
Business Not As Usual: Hundreds Of Free Green Patents…And More
Posted by John Laumer November 2nd, 2009 0 Comments
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Delinquent dioxane isomers seen lurking in darkened store aisles: Walmart to the rescue! Or not.
- Eco-commons, a project of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development now has over 100 public domain green patents available online. See Sharing Green Patents: Eco-Patent Commons & Green Xchange. for some details. Business significance: U1/C2
- Speaking of patents: Chinese banks are underwriting a US$1.5 billion dollar wind farm in West Texas, built using…you guessed it…turbines made in China. You won’t believe the cost analysis. See “Chinese” Wind Farm in Texas: Green Jobs FAIL? for details. Business significance: U5/C5
Help TerraCycle Find New Life for Old Toothbrushes
Posted by Tom Szaky November 2nd, 2009 8 Comments
Toothbrush Terrain. Image credit: krossbow on Flickr.
Look at your toothbrush. It’s likely made of some form of plastic, rubber, and inventive design engineering, packed into a small space. After your initial decision process, where color, teeth cleaning wizardry, and perhaps recycled content and recyclability came into play, you don’t really notice it that much anymore. It’s become part of the background.
Until now.
Now being the start of another round of winter colds, one of the preventative practices being to throw away your toothbrush and get a new one. Hang on, you know I can’t let that be how it goes!
Transit and Trails: Connecting People to Nature on Public Transit
Posted by Deborah Fleischer October 31st, 2009 4 Comments
Don’t own a car, but want to get out to one of the Bay Area’s hundreds of parks and trails? Or perhaps, you are trying to reduce your carbon footprint and wondering how to get to your favorite hike without using your car?
Transit and Trails is a new resource for outdoor enthusiasts who want to leave their cars behind and easily get information on how to take the bus (or ferry) to reach Bay Area hiking trails and campgrounds.
A project of the Bay Area Open Space Council (BAOSC), the new interactive website identifies hundreds of trailheads and 150 campgrounds to explore across the Bay Area’s 1.2 million acres of preserved lands. Just enter your starting location, and roughly how far you want to venture, and the site suggests possible hikes and featured trips. Once you decide where you want to go, it connects with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s 511 Transit Trip Planner to provide a detailed trip itinerary, complete with a map, transit times, fares and walking directions to and from the transit stop.
We Need More Lobbyists! And Other Insights From Solar Power International
Posted by BC Upham October 30th, 2009 3 Comments
To gain an overall picture of the solar power industry today, first imagine David and Goliath, with valiant David representing solar, and Goliath the big bad fossil fuels.
Then imagine David’s sling shot is subsidized by the federal government.
At Solar Power International, the solar trade show that ran wrapped up yesterday in Anaheim, CA, the tone set by SEIA CEO Rhone Resch, co-founder of SPI, and echoed by keynote speaker Robert Kennedy Jr., was one of defiant confrontation with fossil fuels and their lobbyist axis of evil in DC. Their plan: fight fire with fire. The solar industry needs to band together and hire an army of lobbyists to bang on doors in Washington and state capitals and demand either more money and favors, or a level playing field with fossil fuels, depending on how you look at it.
It’s Just Un-American!
But out in the trenches, where solar companies large and small are trying to make a go of it, the tone was much more conciliatory, even plaintive.
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