sustainability

Coda's All-Electric Sedan Revs Up U.S. Auto Market

Coda gears up for its all-electric sedan's big test.READ»

Novomer's Plastic Reduces Greenhouse Gas-But Will it Biodegrade?

Novomer's innovation cuts most of the oil and guilt.READ»

• The Multimedia Bed

Sustaining your business, and sustaining yourself in business

During my graduate studies in Sustainability through Arizona State University I have learned much about organizational strategies built around sustainability initiatives. The definition of sustainability is “meeting present needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” Sometimes it is referred to in the context of the more commonly known Triple Bottom Line which takes into account an organization’s social, economic, and environmental practices and policies. Plainly put, making money while doing good. Interestingly, when people think of “sustainability” they don’t include the social aspect... READ»

HOMErgents Bring Refugee Shelters Back to Basics

As the number of climate-related natural disasters increases, so does the need for quality, affordable shelters. Some of the more creative designs include the Cork Block Shelter and the Seashelter (both winners of the Design ...READ»

Blog FAIL: What was I thinking?!

About four or five years ago, when everyone started launching corporate blogs, a lot of people (myself included) thought it was OK to just use it as a medium to post press releases, without a lot of context. Like the scrunchie, that ...READ»

How Your Small Business Can Grab the Green Business Spotlight

The green entrepreneurs I speak with every day have great stories to tell about their phenomenal work saving resources, cleaning our energy, and creating a better world.  These stories do more than entertain; they get attention ...READ»

Wal-Mart's Deli Pizza Box Is Surprisingly Sustainable

Say what you will about Wal-Mart's tendency to crowd out mom-and-pop stores, it's hard to begrudge the company for its sustainability efforts. In the video below, we see that Wal-Mart's deli pizza boxes are part of a closed-loop ...READ»

In Defense of O'Dwyer in the Social Media vs. PR Fiasco

Jack O’Dwyer has been doing PR for 40 years, and he’s a well-known, albeit curmudgeonly, expert in the industry. In a recent interview with Dave Armand at PRSA, Jack denounced social media, saying that PR people’s jobs are to ...READ»

New Models for Engaging Consumers: A Report from Opportunity Green

Shifting the consumer paradigm to sustainable products, processes, and experiences has to begin with a fundamental shift in the way we think, the way we do business, and the way we all live our lives.READ»

• Ravi Sawhney's Design Reach blog

Nau Pop-Up Shop Is Serious About Sustainability

West-coast based clothing company Nau is opening a pop-up shop in New York for the holidays, and is taking the word "sustainable" to the next level. Here/Nau/NYC opens Thursday in Soho, featuring its line of eco-friendly clothing. ...READ»

Hawaii's Deep Blue Solution to A/C Woes

The design is complex, the island logic simple: Find a cheaper way to cool tropical buildings and you can spend less on imported oil. All that money saved on overhead means--Aloha!--more clam shells for everyone to dump back into ...READ»

Why Values Trump Rules and Regulation

Everywhere I travel, I hear the same refrains: "We need more regulation," or on the flip side, "If we hadn't deregulated, we wouldn't be in this financial mess." More regulation could be a very good thing, but we shouldn’t rush to regulation without asking whether it’s a list of prohibitive rules or something deeper, something that inspires consistent and right behavior, says LRN CEO Dov Seidman.READ»

Sustainable Sites Initiative: A LEED Rating System for Landscapes

It's relatively easy to quantify the sustainability of commercial buildings thanks to the U.S Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which has been giving its seal of approval ...READ»

Social Media as Time Transporter

Thirty-one years ago, the housemate with whom I’d found an apartment moved out, and I invited a poet friend of mine to take his place. We shared that apartment for several months, until he, too, moved on, and another friend moved ...READ»

C.K. Prahalad: How do you think about sustainability?

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Laptops for Kids and Shared Village-wide Cell Phones can Fight Systemic Deep Poverty

Negroponte and Quadir: How Laptops and Cell Phones Attack Systemic Poverty in Developing CountriesREAD»

The Booth Babe Tactic Goes Solar

Consumer technology vendors notoriously use the “booth babe” to grab the attention of nerdy passers-by at conferences. After all, nothing says “Check out my new widget” like a hot, clueless chick dressed as a pirate. (Sarcasm, ...READ»

The Freakonomics of SuperFreakonomics

A Rogue Blogger Explores Climate Change, Sumo Wrestlers, and Best-Selling Authors READ»

SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESSES HAM STRUNG ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Australia’s small and medium businesses lack leadership on environmental issues, leaving many stranded and unable to make changes that will reduce their carbon footprint and boost their bottom lines, a new survey has revealed.READ»

SMEs FINDING SUSTAINABILITY BENEFITS OUTWEIGH THE COST

Half of all Australian Small and Medium Enterprises are willing to take action to become more sustainable even if it has a negative impact on their financial performance in the short term. This 51% equates to 153,000 businesses nationally. Leaders cited that aside from cost, a lack of information, distrust of sustainability claims and the availability of practical choices were the major barriers.READ»

Naked Men in Locker Rooms and Why I Think SMART Objectives Can Undermine Sustainable Behavior

 SMART Objectives are a popular management tool in business and have been for some time now. If you are not familiar with the concept, SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound. ...READ»

Show Me the Green Money - How to Find Stimulus Funding for Your Cleantech Business

As the US economy slowed, the US Government stepped in with the $787 stimulus package passed in February 2009 as the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA).  A big chunk of the stimulus, about $67 billion worth, is ...READ»

Easing the Switch to Green Office Supplies

No matter what business you’re in, you use office supplies, and greening these office supplies is step in the path toward a more sustainable business.  Shoplet.com is helping more businesses and consumers choose green office ...READ»

How to Make Money and Make a Difference

     We all hear a lot about the problems we face, and there's no lack of them it seems.  Our environment and our economy face great challenges.  We need clean water and food.  We need to produce ...READ»

Which Is the Greenest Olympic City of Them All?

The dust has settled on Rio's big win over Chicago in the bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, and we're left wondering why the South American city trumped a city that was supposed to be a guaranteed winner. According to Jim Scher, the ...READ»