The latest in the growing number of efforts directed at reducing, repurposing and ultimately eliminating waste in all its forms.
It takes two days to train a cow to milk itself. This may sound like a farmer’s utopia, but at Bakerview EcoDairy, a robotic milker is just one of many dairy farm innovations being put to use.Bill Vanderkooi, president and CEO of the farm, seeks out all of the latest technologies to help him run his operation, which hosts an onsite market and agricultural education center. Armed with a Master’s degree in animal science, Vanderkooi opened the 80-acre farm near Abbotsford, British Columbia, in June of 2010. He has since established himself as a pioneer among small-scale, sustainable farm owners.
Cross-Posted from Marketing and Comms. Coca-Cola Enterprises has partnered with Sainsbury's to launch a new sustainability program that aims to increase the reuse and recycling of plastic bottles during the summer.The beverage company says its Don't Waste. Create campaign is designed to encourage consumers to use their waste packaging at home in a fun and useful way, while also promising to recycle.
Chicago land-based vertical farm FarmedHere, has launched a program to convert all of its organic waste into compost used to feed other urban farms across Chicago.Through a unique soil-free process that utilizes vertical farming technology, FarmedHere grows USDA certified organic greens that the company says are healthier, tastier, and fresher than traditionally farmed produce. Stacked grow beds – up to six high – are used to create vertical growing space. Instead of soil, water from tanks of hormone-free tilapia delivers nutrients to the plants through either an aquaponic or aeroponic system. These systems are combined with controlled water pressure, humidity and atmospheric pressure to create optimal growing conditions.
Cross-Posted from Supply Chain. Today an ever-increasing number of companies and brands are likely to have a corporate social responsibility agenda because customers and other stakeholders demand they hold themselves accountable for their environmental and social performance. Now more companies are pushing the boundaries, or in reality, talking about going further than merely just becoming more “sustainable” or “responsible.” Zero-waste has become a mantra at some of the world’s most iconiccompanies, including Procter & Gamble and Unilever.
Since 2006, Indianapolis-based RecycleForce has paid over $10 million in wages and employed 650 ex-felons to recycle over 20 million pounds of electronic waste. The non-profit social enterprise has a dual mission: to help people coming out of prison successfully transition back into civil society, and to keep as much electronic waste as possible out of Indiana’s landfills. RecycleForce deconstructs electronic waste and other recyclables provided by residents and corporate partners, separates the reusable materials, and disposes of the waste safely and cleanly.
Global beverage company Diageo says it is working towards zero waste to landfill targets at all of its sites by 2015, but is looking to make its waste management activities a higher priority via a five-pronged approach.The company's latest sustainability and responsibility report says it has reduced waste to landfill by 53.4 percent this year, contributing to an overall reduction of 77.9 percent against a 2007 baseline. This means that 81,099 tons of manufacturing waste is now being reused or recycled.
The Worldwide Brewery Industry Water and Energy Benchmarking Survey, which is carried out by Campden BRI and KWA on behalf of the Dutch Brewers Association every four years, reveals that breweries have reduced their energy usage by over 9% and water usage by over 17% over the last four years, according to Campden BRI.The survey shows that between 2008 and 2012 average water use has been reduced dramatically by over 17% from 5.2 hectolitres (hl) of water per hl of beer to 4.3. Average energy use fell by over 9% in the same period from 229 Megajoules (MJ) per hl of beer to 207 MJ/hl. Even the top 10% most water- and energy-efficient breweries achieved a further 9% reduction in both energy and water usage between 2008 and 2012.
JBI, Inc., a clean energy company that recycles waste plastic into liquid fuels, has announced it is partnering with Crayola on its "Colorcycle" program, which converts markers into clean energy.The program will be conducted throughout the United States in participating K-12 schools and encourages students to responsibly dispose of used Crayola markers through an in-school collection process. Markers will be sent to JBI, where they will be used as feedstock to produce diesel and other liquid fuels using JBI's Plastic2Oil® ("P2O") process.
A pilot project to manufacture commercially viable products from recycled polyethylene fishing nets has been completed successfully in a collaboration between Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM - the Irish Sea Fisheries Board) and Liverpool-based plastics recycler Centriforce Products, according to Centriforce’s website.
A team of Hong Kong researchers has found a way to use ground-up circuit boards from discarded cell phones, computers and other gadgets to absorb toxic heavy metals found in water, according to Chemical & Engineering NewsEach year, around 20 to 50 million tons of electronic waste is produced worldwide, most of which is incinerated or dumped into landfills. Burning the plastic/metal combo in printed circuit boards releases toxic compounds such as dioxins and furans. In landfills, the metals on the circuit boards can contaminate groundwater.
Nokia has joined O2’s “Chargers Out of the Box” campaign, which makes the Nokia 301 the first mass-market handset to ship without a charger. The handset will come with just a USB cable, encouraging customers to use existing mains chargers acquired through the purchase of existing mobile phones. Those who want a conventional charger can get one from O2 at a discounted price.While the Nokia 301 is the fifth phone to be included in the program, the other four have all been high-end smartphones. O2 claims that 82 percent of customers who have bought a charger-less phone have decided the USB cable is all they need.
Researchers in the United Kingdom say they have created a fuel cell that uses bacteria to break down human liquid waste to generate enough electricity to charge a mobile phone.Currently, the amount of electricity produced is just enough to make one call on a standard Samsung mobile phone. The researchers say the fuel cell cost around £1 ($1.51) to produce, meaning the devices could provide a new form of cheap power generation. The bacteria used in the fuel cells are the same as those normally found in wastewater treatment plants.While the fuel cell is not much larger than a car battery, the researchers claim they will eventually be able to craft smaller and more portable ones.
Patagonia has commenced a new remanufacturing program to continuously recycle its flip-flops, which could reduce production waste by nearly a third.The clothing company has partnered with small upstart firm PLUSfoam to create flip-flops that are 100 percent recyclable and can be upcycled into new flip-flops at the end of their life with no reduction in performance.
Texas Campaign for the Environment (TCE) — a nonprofit, grassroots group known for its advocation of electronic waste recycling — has announced a campaign to press battery manufacturer Rayovac to step up its efforts on recycling and waste reduction. The organization asked Rayovac in May to begin taking back its batteries for recycling; now TCE has been joined by 26 other organizations from across the country calling on Rayovac to provide recycling for its batteries in the U.S., as it does in Europe.
A Canadian coffee company says it has developed a more environmentally friendly alternative to the ever-popular, single-serve K-Cup pods, made a household name in recent years by the ubiquitous Keurig home coffeemakers.
Cross-Posted from Behavior Change. As my Green Marketing students are learning, companies large and small are reducing their carbon footprints by adopting strategies to make their operations, goods and services more environmentally sustainable. But with the world population headed towards eight billion, marketers also recognize the important role that consumers play through their usage and disposal of products. To nudge consumers towards less wasteful behavior, take some advice from social marketers — make it easy, fun and popular.Easy Does It
UK paper company James Cropper has developed technology that enables the recycling of disposable coffee cups into high-quality paper products. Last week, the company opened a £5m reclaimed fibre plant using this technology at its production mill in Kendal, Cumbria, which was inaugurated by the Queen and the Princess Royal, Kate Middleton.In the UK alone, an estimated 2.5 billion paper cups go to landfill. Until now, the plastic content of cups has made them unsuitable for use in papermaking — disposable cups are made of up to 95% high-strength paper with a 5% thin coating of polyethylene; James Cropper's recycling technology separates out the plastic, leaving paper pulp that can be used to make paper.
Food waste is probably the least sexy of all sustainability subjects. After all, it has to do with what we eat — after we’ve already eaten it. As long as we scarf down grass-fed beef, sustainable seafood and organic fruits and vegetables, we are good to go, right?
Only three electronics retailers are making a serious effort to help consumers responsibly recycle their old electronic products, according to a new report card released Wednesday by the Electronics TakeBack Coalition (ETB). The Coalition is calling on the other retailers to step up and do their part to make it as easy to recycle as it is to buy electronics from them.Staples, Best Buy and Office Depot earned high marks on the report card, which graded the top 16 consumer electronics retailers’ recycling programs in the U.S. But more than half of the retailers flunked.
ESPN has announced that its annual awards show, the ESPYs, will be carbon neutral and achieve zero waste-to-landfill for the fifth and sixth consecutive years, respectively.To achieve carbon neutrality, the sports network says it will apply energy conservation strategies to minimize the use of fossil fuels and prevent pollution. After reducing energy consumption wherever possible through special applications, the remaining greenhouse gas emissions will be mitigated through carbon offsets.Some carbon reduction strategies include:· Solar power to be used on red carpet, press center, golf course.· Multi-passenger vehicles instead of individual limos to reduce vehicle miles driven.· Hybrid and flex fuel vehicles used for other transfers.