Sustainability

The Cleantech Group announced Wednesday that San Francisco-based startup DotUI has developed a unique way to influence consumer energy usage behavior, by combining real-time energy management software and hardware with digital picture frames and a “fun” interface. I first encountered DotUI and its Founder/CEO, Ishak Kang, at the Green:NET 2009 Conference, where Kang presented his [...]

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by Kurt McCulloch When I was 18 years old, I voluntarily sequestered myself for nine-months on a narrow strip of rugged volcanic coastline on a tiny island in the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu. For almost a year, I worked, slept, ate, and socialized inside an area bounded by mountains and the sea. Everything [...]

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What is a Brand Manager and how will he/she play a role in building the 21st century? By Ryan Jones Given the tough business climate, mind-bending techology changes and the dire need for innovation in the next decade and beyond, some (like Forrester) propose that we ax the command and control “Manager” part of the [...]

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By Amina Horozic You’re from where? I was almost twelve years old when I came to the US in 1994. Since then whenever I mention that I am from Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, I am always inundated with all sorts of unusual questions. Occasionally, I have to clarify that it is a country in Southeastern Europe east [...]

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Fresh from our praise of Apple’s accidental green cred, the computer giant’s board of directors plans to oppose two upcoming shareholder resolutions concerning sustainability. EETimes reports that the board is advising shareholders to reject a call for the company to set up a “board committee on sustainability” as well as a call from accountability group [...]

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Ford is investing another $450 million in electric vehicle development and facility retooling, bringing its total investment in this area to a cool $1 billion. The latest monetary infusion, a part of its “Electrification Strategy,” paves the way for the Dearborn, Mich. carmaker to engineer, produce and launch new electrified vehicles, battery systems and hybrid [...]

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A Harvard Business Review article just listed 50 ‘best performing’ CEOs. Not surprisingly the authors based their evaluation on shareholder value creation. This group of execs are truly superstars having created on average almost a 1000% increase in shareholder value. Steve Jobs was number one in this study’s list. Without a doubt, history will remember [...]

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Investing in the 21st Century stock market has not produced sustained equity valuation growth. The stock market has stuttered through three increasingly painful bubbles of high prices followed by collapses into valleys of even lower prices. Investors will not see sustained equity valuation increases in the stock market until our country fully embraces the principals [...]

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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.

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Earth2Tech has posted an interesting article which takes a look at some of the predictions made for green transportation at the beginning of the decade, and how close those predictions were to reality. While the decade started out with a lot of promise, corporate interests and politics slowed that down, only to see green vehicles [...]

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A riveting photo essay of images depicting climate change was recently published online. The essay, produced by Magnum in Motion and commissioned by the United Nations Development Program, is based on information found in the latest UNDP report. What I like the most about this photo essay is the emphasis placed on promoting assistance to developing countries. [...]

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With GM’s Volt and Toyota’s Plug-In Prius coming to the market within the next two years, how soon can we expect plug-in hybrids to deliver on their social and ecological benefits? A new study by the National Academy of Sciences projects significant fuel savings and emissions reductions by 2030. Is this soon enough? Some say [...]

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Gordon Laird’s new book, The Price of a Bargain: The Quest for Cheap and the Death of Globalization, looks at the global forces that have given rise to cheap goods. In the process, he identifies a series of instabilities that will very likely bring this phase of cheap consumer goods to a close, while also [...]

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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 [...]

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By Jonathan Mariano The Toyota Production System has garnered praise and accolades not only in the realm of automobile manufacturing, but in the realm of operational efficiency. Similar to how individuals interested in sustainable business focus on the the 3P’s, the triple or integrative bottom line of People, Planet, and Profits, the underlying elements of [...]

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There are many scientific journals and publications that exist to raise awareness about environmental issues, where scientists can present research and propose recommendations on ways to mitigate the problems we face related to our environment. Though discussion and debate is important, many believe it is time to move from debate to demonstrated action. While, as [...]

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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 [...]

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Is that the smell of bio-kerosene in the air? If you were one of the passengers on KLM Royal Dutch Airline’s first passenger flight powered by bio-kerosene this week, then you were also one of the first to get a whiff of this new sustainable fuel, if indeed it is whiff-able. The Netherlands airline underscored [...]

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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 [...]

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Ever since I was a kid, when my father used give me Matchbox cars he bought on his way home from work, I’ve been crazy about cars. So I was extremely excited to have the opportunity to speak with Simon Saba of Saba Motors, whose EV vision is something any gearhead can get jazzed about: [...]

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Manufacturing in America has eroded over the decades to approximately 10% of our country’s annual Gross Domestic Product. The Bureau of Labor Statistics documents 3 million jobs lost in manufacturing between 1996 and 2006. At an average manufacturing hourly wage of $18.50 representing a loss of $115 billion in annual manufacturing wages. I witnessed this [...]

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As part of a new initiative, every month Kaiser Permanente (KP) will feature an online video of an employee or physician who is doing something worthwhile in regards to healthcare and sustainability. The program is called 60 Sustainable Seconds with Kathy Gerwig, KP’s environmental stewardship officer and vice president of workplace safety. Watch the first [...]

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Wall Street’s spectacular implosion in 2008—illustrated by the failure and subsequent sale of Bear Stearns to JP Morgan and, soon thereafter, the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the government’s spectacular bailout soured many on Wall Street’s Masters of the Universe. But investment banks don’t just trade credit-default swaps and collateralized debt obligations. They also help [...]

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Sustainability careers are in high demand, judging from the record-breaking attendance at the 2009 Net Impact Conference this past weekend (2,400 participants, 60% of which were MBA students).  Problem is, there just aren’t that many full-time positions with “sustainability” or “corporate social responsibility” in the title.  But, it is possible to create a full-time sustainability [...]

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When Adam Werbach talks, people listen. And for good reason – his career track has been explosive, from being elected the youngest-ever President of the Sierra Club at age 23 to his more recent work with Walmart attempting to engage all 2 million or their Associates. Currently, he is the CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi [...]

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Consumers increasingly want the ability to make informed decisions through a better understanding of the human health and environmental impacts of products, processes and activities. Though many products claim to be “green,” the inputs and outputs that comprise them aren’t always environmentally friendly. Suppliers are now demanding adherence to specific green standards and those companies [...]

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We’ve all heard the good news: Improving efficiencies at your data center is a sure-fire way to cut energy costs and reduce GHG emissions. But, let’s face it. The prospect of greening a data center can seem overwhelming. After all, data centers are complicated, unwieldy and high-tech. Even the most intrepid sustainability manager may take [...]

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BTTR (as in Better) Ventures has a thing about mushrooms, while Peet’s Coffee & Tea of course has a very big thing about coffee (and tea). This unlikely duo has joined forces in a clever and delicious waste-to-food recycling venture that produces gourmet mushrooms out of coffee grounds. Some 16 billion pounds of coffee beans [...]

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SC Johnson, maker of a variety of household products that include Glade, Drano and Scrubbing Bubbles, says in its latest sustainability report that it has reduced greenhouse gas emissions 27 percent at its worldwide factories over the last eight years. In the U.S., the Racine, WI, company reported a 17 percent reduction in GHG emissions [...]

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It has been three years since the release of Al Gore‘s Oscar-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Truth”.  Yesterday, Katie Couric sat down for an exclusive interview the former Vice President in advance of the release of his new book, Our Choice. In the interview, Mr. Gore talks about the potential impacts of climate change, the need [...]

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