Coping with the Giant Garbage Patches at Sea
In the North Pacific, there’s a vortex of trash roughly twice the size of Texas. Known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” this sluggish whirlpool grows daily – swelled by massive currents hauling literal tons of human waste. The “Patch” is one of 11 naturally occurring global current systems called “gyres.” And it...
China’s New 250-Acre Solar Panda Makes Sustainability Adorable
Who knew that solar power could be so adorable? Bred out of necessity, sustainability has often been viewed as a sacrifice in the face of the ever-growing climate change. But now China, one of the leading investors in renewable energy, is trying to rebrand sustainability as fun. This has come in the form of a new 250-acre solar farm,...
Interview: Adrian Grenier's Strawless Ocean Campaign
Entourage star Adrian Grenier has had it with drinking straws. Not because the little paper wrapper is hard to open, or because if they bend and split they become useless, but because they are a perfect example of an unnecessary single-use plastic. “We all encounter plastic straws daily,” Adrian Grenier tells us. “And we use...
Adrian Grenier’s Last Straw
Adrian Grenier has had it with drinking straws. Not because the little paper wrapper is hard to open, or because if they bend and split they become useless, but because they are a perfect example of an unnecessary single-use plastic. “We all encounter plastic straws daily,” Adrian Grenier tells us. “And we use plastic straws...
The Corporate Guide to Loving Green (the other kind)
Corporate sustainability efforts are a bright spot in the quest to reduce carbon emissions. Yet these bright spots – equivalent, perhaps, to an old-fashioned 60-watt light bulb – could be brighter and more effective (LEDs) if more organizations were on track to integrate green thinking into corporate culture. Instead,...
Is Silicon Valley Guilty of Greenwashing?
A modern commercial begins with a lush field, pristine mountains, and a beautiful waterfall, as soothing music plays in the background. However, after all that natural scenery, something a bit less, shall we say, organic appears: a BMW roaring down a highway. This type of nature-focused branding is nothing new. Companies such as...
Why Life Cycle Assessments are the Cheat Code for Green Businesses
Even with the prevalence of email, text messages, and websites, our nation is far from paperless. According to Boston College, each American uses about 680 pounds of paper per year, and all that paper takes a lot of trees, water and chemicals to produce. Traditional paper is resource-intensive, that’s why sustainability-minded paper...
Animal Rights Philosopher Peter Singer on Sustainable Agriculture and Trump
I first heard about Peter Singer early on in college. It was Introduction to Ethics, a chock-full morning survey with an instructor who loved working his sophomore audience into a riot of opinion. The tactic was perfect for those of us who were dead-behind-the-eyes. Every day we were fed some new hot-button controversy – and tasked...
Study Shows "The Good Life" is all about Connections and Simplicity
Citing a recent study conducted by Harris Poll and Sustainable Brands, Erica Parker set off today's proceedings at the annual Sustainable Brands conference by discussing exactly what composes the ever-sought "Good Life." Here was the breakdown: Balanced Simplicity: Simplicity, balance, health, & happiness:...
Chatting with Akon about ‘Lighting Africa’ and his Role in the Tech World
Since the mid-2000s, Akon has been recognized for his catchy tracks and incredible performances. His high, modulated vocals – partly inspired by his African roots – have made him a model act for contemporary hip-hop, earning him numerous awards and several Grammy nominations. But we didn’t meet “Mr. Lonely” backstage at a...
Xiuhtezcatl Martinez and the Climate Case That Could Change Everything
“This is no ordinary lawsuit.” This pithy line opens the “Background” portion of Judge Aiken’s decision to deny the dismissal of Juliana v. United States last year in Oregon. With the makings of a David & Goliath trial, the suit pits 21 young plaintiffs, ages 9-20, against the U.S. government – the former...
Justin Wren, an Unlikely Champion
If there is one thing Americans love, it is the comeback story. Winning can be boring, but winning after failing elicits something very primal in our nature. But life isn’t a Rocky movie; usually the demons of addiction and depression end up destroying a person. There rarely is a made-for-TV ending, the musical montage with the smiling...
Hip-Hop's Akon Brightens the World of Sustainability on New Cover
Rapper, businessman, and sustainability advocate Akon is definitely the perfect fit as the cover story for Innovation & Tech Today’s first issue of 2017. While he may be best known as an award-winning hip-hop artist, Akon has also spent the past few years spearheading Akon Lighting Africa, an organization which looks to...
The 49ers Tackle Sustainability
It’s not every day an NFL organization takes on the daunting task of creating a sustainable stadium. Actually, it’s so uncommon that the San Francisco 49ers are the first NFL organization to be awarded two LEED Gold certifications, two years in a row, for their superb work. Their Levi’s Stadium, one of the first stadiums built with...
Interview: Bill McKibben on Pipelines and the War for the World
Perhaps one of the most influential thinkers in the sustainability movement, Bill McKibben has a knack for converting ideology into action. After his seminal book The End of Nature was published in 1989 (appearing in 24 languages to date), McKibben became the leading figure for a number of high-profile green missions – with 350.org and...
Business as (Un)Usual: The Women in Green Forum
What you’ll find as a common thread in the environmental industry is a lack of women adequately represented in leadership roles. The tide, however, is shifting, and the Women In Green Forum, created seven years ago by Founder Jaime Nack is a testament to this. While the Forum may have started out years ago as an opportunity to...
Giraffe joins list of species that are 'vulnerable to extinction'
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) made an update to its Red List of Threatened Species earlier this week at the 13th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity in Cancun, Mexico. The report states that one of the world’s favorite mammals—the giraffe—is now vulnerable to...
Have We Really Just Entered the "Anthropocene" Period?
The task of researching, categorizing, and documenting the unfathomably ancient Earth’s timeline belongs to stratigraphers – scientists who study the features of rock strata to learn our planet’s geological history. Stratigraphy might sound like an insulated, esoteric pursuit; dividing Cambrian time into new sections isn’t...
Thoughts on Greenbuild 2016
Don't wait to be something to do something. These are the words of California's Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom at the 2016 Greenbuild Plenary event in Los Angeles, California. Together, he argued, we can all attain success while remaining loyal to the ideas of People, Planet, and Profit. Sustainability is not only good for the...
Scientists are Trying to Squeeze Energy from Poop
Scientists at the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory proudly present the pungent power source of the future: poop. These scientists have found a way to change sewage sludge into crude oil called biocrude. Through a process called hydrothermal liquefaction, the sewage is heated to 650 degrees Fahrenheit,...
4 Nature-Inspired Sustainable Technologies
“A sustainable world has already been invented,” according to Dr. Janine Benyus. A biologist and TED Talks alumna, Benyus works to transform how we perceive invention by bringing it down to earth. According to her, if you want to build a better world through technology, you simply crib the notes nature has written over millions of...
Eating Beer with Dan Kurzrock
With Dan Kurzrock of ReGrained. “Granola” has become a playful slur for environmentalists over the years. When you say, “He’s pretty granola,” you’re immediately summoning an image of hippie parody – the lanky arms, the tie-dye shirt, the sticky So-Cal accent; it’s the caricatured person a of “going green,” the guy...
Sustainability & Hops: Green Energy & Craft
Craft Breweries have led the beer industry to grow and evolve in exciting new ways. And we aren’t just referring to supersized breweries like Coors, Budweiser or Miller. Consumers continue to gravitate towards more complex flavors, styles and the highquality, unique taste of craft beer. The craft beer industry’s smarter, more...
Streamlined solar battery boosts renewable energy potential
A new solar energy battery, large and affordable enough for our nation’s power grid, promises to hasten the U.S.’s transition to renewable energy. The battery was developed by Dr. Song Jin, a chemistry professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and his colleagues at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in...
Homegrown Technologies & Advanced Fuel Efficiency
Every year in the United States, inefficiently operating vehicles waste billions of gallons of fuel. According to Argonne National Laboratories, vehicle idling (leaving a vehicle running while stationary) alone wastes 6 billion gallons annually across both the personal and commercial vehicle sectors. Idling, inefficient driving,...
Our Interview U.S Green Building Council's Rick Fedrizzi
Rick Fedrizzi, CEO of the U.S. Green Building Council, co-founded the organization in 1993. Fedrizzi oversaw the creation of the LEED green building certification program, which has drawn participation from nearly 75,000 commercial properties since it was introduced in 2000. Though 2016 is Fedrizzi’s last year as CEO, he...
Tiny House 101: Happiness, Sustainability, and Letting Go of Things
There's a lot of buzz around the country these days about tiny houses. A quick internet search reveals countless photos of these micro abodes. People of all ages and walks of life are taking the step to drastically downsize and simplify their lives, thereby greatly reducing their stress levels and their carbon footprint. Many people...
What Exactly Does “Activating Purpose" Mean in Sustainability?
“Activating Purpose” is a constant theme at this year’s Sustainable Brands conference in San Diego, CA. Emblazoned on numerous banners, flyers, and web pages, the phrase speaks deeply to both the mission and dilemma of green organizations. But, as anyone in the business world knows, the buzzwords and mantras of enterprise are never...
Why Sustainability is a Business’s Best Friend with KoAnn Skrzyniarz
Ten years ago, KoAnn Skrzyniarz combined her business background with her deep love and concern for our environmental and social future. Her goal? To reframe sustainability as the biggest innovation opportunity of the 21st century – rather than simply a risk or cost savings play – and to help brands prosper by leveraging...
Fixing The World's Water Crisis: What the Experts Say
Everywhere you look, the news is rough. NASA calls last year's West Coast drought the worst in a millennium. And the Southwest continues to burn or flood, with no middle ground in sight. Meanwhile, we continue consuming water at voracious rates. One would think that with all the flooding, ice packs, oceans, and fresh water sources,...
