A boat made out of more than 12,000 used plastic water bottles is on its way to Sydney, Australia, proving several points along way: That it can be done; that trash can be useful; and that the huge swath of plastic trash and other debris known as the Eastern Garbage Patch should never happen again. [...]

Read On »

This is what the triple bottom line should be all about but maybe a Harvard Business Review article will put a firmer imprimatur on an emerging business opportunity for CEOs in the for-profit finance sector: Linking entrepreneurs and their companies with the necessary resources needed to create lasting social change. Writing in HBR’s blog this [...]

Read On »

Five years ago, 3p reported that GDP does not correlate with happiness, and that another, more holisitic metric—GPI, or Gross Progress Indicator—would be more apt. Now, in 2010, some say this is still true. This finding has been repeated and reported almost constantly in the last five years, which begs two points. First, that happiness is [...]

Read On »

Frito Lay Canada (a division of PepsiCo) will roll out the world’s first 100% compostable chip bag in Canadian retail outlets beginning in March. The new SunChips packaging will be made from more than 90% renewable, plant-based materials, and as a result, the bag will completely break down into compost in a hot, active compost [...]

Read On »

A small San Francisco startup, Wind+Wing Technologies, wants to take us back to the future with its concept for ferries equipped with carbon composite wings as sails, an idea that is also taking hold in a different form for ocean cargo vessels. Ferries with sails are a natural for the Bay Area because of the [...]

Read On »

Can robots from MA-based Kiva Systems turn warehouses green? Crate and Barrel thinks so. So far, most companies have installed Kiva warehouse automation systems because they want to improve efficiencies and cut costs. But, Crate and Barrel is betting that there’s even greater potential. The company recently purchased a Kiva system for its Tracy, Calif. [...]

Read On »

The Department of Energy (DOE) program, the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing incentive (ATVMI) is meant to stimulate the development of cleaner vehicles (EVs). The Security Act of 2007’s Section 136 created an incentive program of grants and loans to support developing advanced technology vehicles and the parts needed for them. A total of $25 was [...]

Read On »

Throughout the myriad of phases that encompass design, there is a common binding thread known as ‘the experience’. It is within ‘the experience’ that creativity flourishes, innovation is expansive, and playful methodologies flourish.

Read On »

By Michael Fox I am an artist. I was attracted to the DSMBA program at the California College of Arts in my efforts to conceptually frame my artwork as a practice.  The DSMBA program has given me the opportunity to be creative utilizing the core values of innovation that are taught as my approach instead [...]

Read On »

A University College Dublin research team recently patented a process to produce biodegradable plastic from plastic bottles, and that patent has led to the formation of a company, Bioplastech Ltd., to develop, process and market the technology. Dr. Kevin O’Connor, founder and CEO of Bioplastech, led the team and the biodegradable plastic they produce is [...]

Read On »

The future of plastics once fossil fuels run dry or the price for it becomes too expensive is bioplastics. But that alternative future is distant, measured in terms of decades, says Frederic Scheer, chairman, president and founder of Cereplast Inc., a Hawthorne, CA, company that designs and manufactures bio-based, sustainable plastics. Which is not to [...]

Read On »

Waiting for the A train at the 34th Street subway a few months ago in New York City, I was assaulted by the amount of noise on the platform. Chirps, blips, clicks, squawks and music encircled me like ten thousand migrating geese. I was unintentionally invited into: The very private argument of a young woman [...]

Read On »

“There are 84 million people without water.  More children die from bad water than from HIV and malaria combined.  But solutions abound.”  Those were the words of hope spoken by Cheryl Choge from Global Water Challenge at the Net Impact 2009 Conference.  Cheryl and Tito Llantada of Ashoka Changemakers discussed the winning ideas from the [...]

Read On »

Moss. We’ve all seen it growing in bogs, on tree trunks, and in-between cracks in the sidewalk. But, did you ever think that this common plant could potentially revolutionize an entire industry? Enter David Knighton, MD, co-founder and CEO of the Minnesota-based startup, Creative Water Solutions. Knighton, a physician, inventor and entrepreneur–who also happens to [...]

Read On »

Engaging employees through sustainability is not a one size fits all approach.  From Walmart’s Personal Sustainability Project to  Sodexo’s Corporate Citizenship Program to Intel’s intranet to FMYI’s online collaboration, the variety is endless.  Each of the four members of the Net Impact Conference 2009 panel on Sustainable Innovation Through Employee Engagement, had differing approaches on [...]

Read On »

Solar power satellites are the yin to the yang of Ronald Reagan’s 1980s Star Wars fantasy, and almost as old. Scientists for decades have explored the potential of using space-based solar cells to beam power to the Earth. It’s an idea with very long legs, as they say, but now the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency [...]

Read On »

Crowdsourcing. You’ve probably heard the term over and over, and when I began to hear it from Dwayne Spradlin of Innocentive as he presented at the inaugural Social Media for Sustainability conference in San Francisco on Monday, I began to tune out. A buzzword with not a lot of tangible results. A recipe for messy, [...]

Read On »

Bike to work, bike to the workout, and now bike to work it. The world’s oldest profession, once considered recession-resistant, is going green–in Germany at least, and largely out of economic necessity. The country’s flaccid sex-for-hire industry could follow the example of one flagging bordello in Berlin, the Maison d’Envie (House of Desire) which is [...]

Read On »

The MIT Sloan Management Review has released a comprehensive survey of sustainability practices and trends in business, including interviews, case studies, and insights into how businesses world-wide view the growing field. Michael Hopkins, editor in chief of the Review, will be a speaker at this year’s Opportunity Green conference in Los Angeles, a partner of [...]

Read On »

Reuters reported this morning that clean tech investments have risen substantially this year. In the third quarter report just released, there were 112 deals totaling $1.9 billion that included investments in solar power, smart grids, biofuels, green building materials, and electric car technology. Much of this enthusiasm is believed to be led by a new [...]

Read On »

“There’s no alternative to sustainable development” begins the recent Harvard Business Review article, “Why Sustainability Is Now the Key Driver of Innovation.” Sustainability and green initiatives are no longer optional contend the article’s authors — Ram Nidumolu, C.K. Prahalad and M.R. Rangaswami. Not only is the business case getting stronger, but embracing a sustainability agenda [...]

Read On »

If you haven’t heard of RecycleBank, it’s only a matter of time. The company bills itself as a “premier rewards and loyalty program that motivates people to recycle” and the New York Times calls the premise, “elegantly simple.” In brief, RecycleBank partners with municipalities or private haulers to measure household recycling via a smart computer [...]

Read On »

Solar power. It’s talked about by many, it’s seen on many consumer goods, but as of yet, it’s not seen on many roofs. Not without substantial government subsidies. It’s often difficult and time consuming to install, requiring a team of professionals and reams of paperwork. It doesn’t have to be that way. Veranda Solar is [...]

Read On »

As a green business blogger on three sites, I hear about a lot of green business ideas. Today I heard about a near perfect one. Green Any Site. The idea is simple: Before you make a purchase online, you hit the “Green This!” button, and then make your purchase as usual, coupon codes and all. [...]

Read On »

Last month Business Week calculated that consumers borrowed and spent about $3 trillion over the last decade, “consumption that was not justified by income growth.” Economic growth in the U.S. over the same period averaged 2.7 percent, the slowest rate since the 1950s. Personal consumption growth continued to grow while the rest of the U.S. [...]

Read On »

Amidst a free-falling roller coaster global economy, social capital is an encouraging bright spot. While traditional profit-driven capitalism has come into question, the social capital movement is budding, striving to do good and make money at once, shattering the traditional for-profit, non-profit dichotomy. I was a relative newbie at the first Social Capital Markets Conference [...]

Read On »

As part of Blog Action Day, we introduced you to the public purpose investment company, E+Co. To recap, E+Co is a non-profit that provides local energy entrepreneurs in developing countries with business development services as well as investment capital. Active in 28 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America, it has fostered the growth of [...]

Read On »

It is both good news and bad news for green building businesses that more people are entering the marketplace. The growth of the sustainable or green building industry leaves many questions for business owners, namely, “How can we differentiate ourselves from one another?” and “How can we distinguish ourselves from the hype and greenwashing?”

Read On »

Get ready! We’re gearing up for West Coast Green, the residential green building expo–happening on September 25 to 27–and we’ll be posting live on various keynotes, seminars and exhibits throughout the event.

Read On »

Pizza. From its humble beginnings in Italy, it has become a food enjoyed across the globe. And though the size, shape, and flavor may vary widely, one thing does not. The box. A sturdy utilitarian container, it does a good job keeping the pizza warm, safe, and easy to carry. Billions are used each year. [...]

Read On »