SF Mayor Gavin Newsom made the point a few weeks ago that upgrading older buildings to green standards was more important than building new green buildings. That cue has been taken in New York today as the Empire State Building announced a $20 million project [...]
Starting next month, American Airlines will replace jet service on the transatlantic sector with solar powered LZ-2 airships - at zero emissions. The new 100% photovoltaic powered vessels will transport up to 500 people in the lap of luxury, featuring private [...]
Markets are conversations. So explains the famous Cluetrain Manifesto which continues:
...learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about "listening to customers." They will only sound human when they empower real human [...]
Corporate sustainability is about more than just environmental concerns. It's also about creating a livable, open, and creative corporate environment - for both customers and those inside the company. Though it might be a silly advertising stunt, Jet Blue's recent online campaign is more than just [...]
Gavin Starks, CEO of AMEE (a platform that seeks to, quite literally, measure all the energy data in the world), followed SF Mayor Newsom this morning on stage, to kick off the GreenNet09 gathering of tech oriented change agents.
AMEE is a great and obvious idea - [...]
What do MBA students think about the relationship between business and social & environmental issues? If you're a regular 3p reader, you've been introduced to a lot of MBAs who think quite consciously about this relationship and generally agree that business should play an active role in the conversation. [...]
Zappos' CEO Tony Hsieh delivered yesterday's keynote speech at the SXSW interactive media conference to a packed and enthusiastic crowd of techies and new media mavens. The company has long embraced web technology for obvious reasons (they're an online store): They have a popular' [...]
GigaOm's Green:Net09 conference is just around the corner and if you're an IT professional or a Green Entrepreneur with a technical lean, this will likely be on of the year's key gatherings.
It's being billed as "The First Green Conference for the Internet Technology Industry" and' [...]
Some time ago, Ryan Mickle wrote about a pretty advanced move by Dole Corp. to give buyers of bananas a window into who actually picked and processed the banana they just bought. The idea was that every sticker on every banana was tied to an actual [...]
Defining exactly what "Fair Trade" means isn't easy, but the idea certainly sounds good. FINE starts their definition as "Fair Trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, that seeks greater equity in international trade...". The idea is pretty simple - make' [...]
By Steven Tiell
Most Americans can describe ways they are being screwed by the economic and political decisions our government is making. No matter which recovery or bailout plan you consider, there are significant flaws, and we’re left trying to figure out which option will screw us the [...]
Whether or not you're an internet technology professional, if you're a 3P reader you know the importance that IT and related technologies play in measuring and reducing the environmental footprint of an enterprise. Not only that, but you've come to appreciate the phenomenal entrepreneurial opportunities the' [...]
Net Impact has always been one of my favorite "green" business organizations and their annual conference has been a highlight of many years. The organization is particularly great for MBA students or other young people who are just getting started in the arena of socially and environmentally responsible [...]
Tomorrow morning, Jeff Siegel will have some intelligent thoughts about clean coal here on 3P. In the meantime, prepare yourself for an experience that takes greenwashing to a whole new level - The Clean Coal Christmas Carolers. I'm starting to pity these guys.
Ed [...]
Last year about this time I wrote about the insane waste that phone books represent in an age where almost everyone has a decent internet connection. I mentioned that, as a longtime shareholder of AT&T, I was particularly outraged to see the company spending money printing [...]
I think this video speaks for itself:
Discuss....
(Please click the headline if you would like to comment on this post)
Will Obama Bring Boom Times to the Sustainability Industry?
The good news, I think, is that those taking a strong position on sustainability and clean technology stood to prosper regardless of who won last Tuesday. The better news, as many of us expected, is that an [...]
The terms "cleantech" and "sustainability" cover a wide range of technologies, processes, services, and market segments. Opportunities to leverage and deploy new 'clean' technologies are substantial--in terms of new client acquisition, and in obtaining higher-margin lines of business.
Triple Pundit contributor Scott Boutwell will be presenting [...]
Net Impact, a group of future and current leaders who use business to create positive change invited student and professional members to compete in the annual Net Impact Green Challenge. The task: to use their business skills to reduce their organization's environmental footprint. Sue Patrolia helped [...]
A potentially landmark trial (Boweto vs. Chevron) opens up next week in San Francisco involving the Chevron corporation. The trial, in case you're not familiar with it, alleges Chevron is liable for the shootings of four protesters on an oil facility in Nigeria in 1998. Two protesters were [...]
While your 401K smolders in ruins, take a gander at this BBC article and it might give you some perspective. Unfortunately, it's not immediately an optimistic perspective: We are actually losing more money through deforestation than through the current financial meltdown. The reasoning behind this is [...]
SustainLane's rasison d'etre has always been elusive, but one thing they've done consistently well, and improved upon year after year has been their various city rankings - including the sought after award of "most sustainable city in the US". This year they've outdone themselves with a [...]
Net Impact, a group of future and current leaders who use business to create positive change invited student and professional members to compete in the annual Net Impact Green Challenge. The task: to use their business skills to reduce their organization's environmental footprint. Graphic Designer Naomi [...]
Net Impact, a group of future and current leaders who use business to create positive change invited student and professional members to compete in the annual Net Impact Green Challenge. The task: to use their business skills to reduce their organization's environmental footprint. Midori Connolly of [...]
The video below is the funniest propaganda I've seen since the infamous "CO2, We call it life" shenegins a couple years ago. It's almost as good as something you might see on The Onion.
In case you're wondering what's wrong with this picture, read on.
First of all, the ad [...]
As part of a new effort to reach out to our friends across the Green Business Blogosphere, this is the first installment of our weekly Friday wrap of interesting things we’ve found this past week on. Follow the links to find out more and join the conversation below this [...]
Winning Teams Put Ideals Into Action To Reduce their University’s Environmental Footprint
Every spring, Net Impact, a group of future and current leaders who use business to create positive change invites student and professional members to compete in the annual Net Impact Green Challenge. The task: to use their [...]
Happy Friday everyone. At long last, we've conjured up a user survey for Triple Pundit readers and it's really important that we get some good data over the course of the next week or so. The purpose of the survey is two-fold - 1) To find [...]
With no end in sight for high fuel prices, the pressure is on for the world's truckers to take steps to cut back on fuel use or price themselves out of business. This task means changing driving styles as well as implementing aerodynamic changes to [...]
One of the most interesting conversations I had at Sustainable Brands 08 last week was with Greg Owsley of employee-owned New Belgium Brewery, makers of Fat Tire beer and many others.
Although I've always been a big fan of New Belgium's beers, especially their summer beer, Skinny [...]
This has all the risks of being one of those hair-brained ideas thrown together to get attention and then amounting to being less than spectacular: KLM has partnered with a firm called AlgaeLink to produce an aviation fuel derived from Algae.
According to Radio Netherlands:
The Dutch [...]
As I've remarked on numerous times in the past (links here), Johnson Controls remains one of the great unsung leaders in efficiency - having been making buildings more efficient since long before it became trendy.
Now, they've taken their expertise to their own operations with a complete [...]
Creative Citizen recently launched their public beta after being in private beta since September 2007. The two founders, Argam DerHartunian and Scott Badenoch, believe that their service is a key piece to what has been missing in the environmental movement. The two created a [...]
The headline above is from Sunday's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in celebration of Bike to Work Week, which started today. The gist of the article is what I like best - it's not just a celebration of biking and all it's benefits - it's a celebration of [...]
Generation Investment Management has closed $638Million in initial funding for its Climate Solutions Fund. The company is chaired by former vice president Al Gore and serves to be a leader in investing in sustainable enterprises with a slant toward solving various environmental problems.
According to the [...]
Despite the advent of bluetooth-enabled blackberries and other modern technologies, the ritual of handing out business cards remains an integral part of establishing business relationships. When I was working on TreeHugger.com, Graham Hill designed a sexy card which used half the paper of a regular [...]
Duquesne University's Sustainable MBA program is regarded as among the top ten in the world. A recent post on their website sums up seven mindset qualities that are critical for leadership in sustainable business. They're worth checking out:
1. The Sustainability Mindset You question rhetoric [...]
Fittingly named for Aldo Leopold, the Leopold center near Baraboo, WI, has been awarded 61 of 69 LEED points - more than any building so far - making it, apparently, the "greenest" building currently in existence. Although the architects of certain ancient structures might beg [...]
Hot on the heels of their acquisition of Burt's Bees, among the more respected "green" brands out there, Clorox has now partnered with the Sierra Club to launch a new line of products called "Green Works" which the Sierra Club will validate as "natural". Both organizations [...]
(By Lina Constantinovici)
On Friday, April 11, 2008 at Casa Verde in the Mission, Mayor Gavin Newsom addressed his plans to put Carbon Tax on the November ballot. Voter support of this initiative would position San Francisco as the first city in the US to take a [...]
Redefining Progress was one of the first organizations to promote the idea of an "ecological footprint" via a test of sorts that could provide a tangible measurement of one's impact on the globe. The test has now been revised and is a fair bit more sophisticated. [...]
For that strange little cross section of environmentalist and videophile, there is a high definition TV out there for you. I'm talking about the recently launched, CES award-winning Philips 42PFL5603D Flat TV 42", better known as the Eco TV. The problem is that you may [...]
Friday is a good day to watch a little Steven Colbert. The other day, Van Jones guest starred and rolled with Steven's punches to give a pretty good depiction of the idea of a green economy and the potential for millions of associated jobs. Enjoy:
(Please click the headline if you [...]This is a guest post was written by Bobby Grace, a student in Professor Simran Sethis Media and the Environment course at the University of Kansas originally published this to the course blog on March 18, 2008.
I dont skateboard.
Ive tried, but I never really got the hang [...]
This is a guest post was written by Bobby Grace, a student in Professor Simran Sethis Media and the Environment course at the University of Kansas originally published this to the course blog on March 9, 2008.
Photo: Gerard Lemos, [...]
This is a guest post was written by Travis Brown, a student in Professor Simran Sethis Media and the Environment course at the University of Kansas originally published this to the course blog on March 10, 2008.
America has a shoe problem.
2,286,472,000 shoes were purchased in the [...]
Here's something to debunk for the weekend. Alexi Mostrous from the Times suggests that there is no scientific evidence that plastic bags cause any of the myriad problems they are blamed for. As a result, he suggest that banning plastic bags is irrational and therefore a [...]
By Nathan Shedroff
Like the, now mythical, debate about Hummers vs Priuses, nuclear power is an issue whos pros and cons largely cant be addressed without an LCA (Life Cycle Analysis). Sure, Nuclear reactors, without a doubt, produce fewer carbon emissions than coal and other traditional power [...]
By Brian Lillquist
Its Saturday night in San Francisco and the line outside Temple nightclub extends well beyond the velvet rope and ominous looking bouncers. Inside, DJs in three rooms pound out house beats as the whole 1000 person venue pulsates. While this all looks normal to the [...]
As green entrepreneurs go, the guys behind Green Options have been doing a particularly top notch job. Today is the one-year anniversary of the launch of their site, an accomplishment which includes the launch of a number of micro-sites including ecopreneurist.com, a site aimed at [...]
Net Impact's 2008 "Green Challenge" launches Tuesday, February 5th to accelerate the greening of campuses and businesses around the world. This competition recognizes and rewards positive impacts created by teams of students and professionals dedicated to using business to produce sustainable environmental change. Net Impact members who are leading [...]
Here's something I didn't see coming: Publicis Groupe have acquired Adam Webach's Act Now Productions and will bring them under the Saatchi & Saatchi S name. (The additional "S" is for Sustainability)
The idea is to take the highly successful PSP (Personal Sustainabilty Project) concept that ActNow [...]
I never thought I'd say this, but shame on the Sierra Club. That venerable organization is opposed to a particular routing for the long overdue California High Speed rail line which will someday connect the Bay Area with Los Angeles. [more here] The organization is [...]
The Long Tail is one of the most interesting business concepts to come out of recent years - stating that in many markets there is more to gain from selling "less of more". But that's got nothing to do with this post. Chris Anderson, the concept's [...]
If you haven't seen this video, take a peek. It's not "new" news to those of us who've been following the issue for a while, but it's a great, simple argument to pass around. The one thing I'd add to it is that taking action on climate change may actually [...]
Although military contracting remains frighteningly profitable, other, greener options are emerging. Take Tower Tech of Manitowoc, WI. The self-described "logistical leader in wind tower production" has an interesting past - the facility in which it operates is a former submarine manufacturer which has been re-tooled [...]
A wild and fascinating story of the good and bad of business in the same place is unfolding in Northern California as we speak. In the wake of the major fuel spill in San Francisco Bay, the association of local dungeness crab fishermen voluntarily agreed to postpone [...]
The Global Social Venture Competition (GSVC) is seeking promising social entrepreneurs to enter the 2008 Competition. If you are an entrepreneur (or budding entrepreneur!) with a financially sustainable venture that addresses a social or environmental problem, you are encouraged to apply. Winning plans in the past [...]
Another interesting innovation made visible at this week's LA Auto Show is a plastic product called iQ. It's 85% post-consumer plastic bottles and is manufactured by Sabic plastics (formerly GE-Plastics) and can be used to build body-panels for cars as well as to replace glass in [...] 
Pictured here is an tire made from 85% Citrus Oil - a useful oil extracted from orange rinds discarded by the citrus industry. The remaining portion of the tire is petroleum based traditional material. The prototype, by Yokohama, is one of the most interesting things I [...]
Last weekend's Net Impact conference at Vanderbilt was the best one I've ever attended with over 1,700 in attendance and more excellent panels and discussions than ever. Vanderbilt's Owen School has been live-blogging the event since last Thursday and I wish I'd known about it sooner. Check out [...]
San Francisco set the ambitious goal of 75% waste diversion by 2010 and has already achieved 69%. Since carpet currently makes up anywhere from 2%-5% of what goes into landfills in California, carpet recycling stands to make a good dent in that remaining 6% diversion goal. As [...]
Also featured on this episode is Ian Schraeger talking about success in the hotel business.
continues... [...]In this video, Ray Anderson talks about externalities and how his company, Interface Carpet, developed its environmental vision.
continues... [...]
Buying used clothing is a great way to go green and get an interesting wardrobe at the same time. But it's still hard to get the mainstream to accept it. Goodwill has never been sexy. That may be about to change.
The venerable charity has teamed up with [...]
I don't usually like to sulk in the doom and gloom of impending or imagined global catastrophe, but this landmark Christian Science Monitor article deserves a lot more attention that it's getting.
In brief - a UN report is soon due out that shows greenhouse gas concentration [...]
(This is a guest post by Bobby Grace)