Did you know that mowing your lawn is a bigger polluter then driving? A 2001 Swedish study concluded, “Air pollution from cutting grass for an hour with a gasoline powered lawn mower is about the same as that from a…
A new type of financing is emerging, social impact bonds. As defined by Wikipedia, A Social Impact Bond, also known as a Pay for Success Bond or a Social Benefit Bond, is a contract with the public sector in which…
By taking a look at utility usage and reducing its impact, you are in essence starting a sustainability program by reducing the use of natural resources and eliminating waste. Once you see that this is the beginning of that type…
One can expect to see goats and herders at Chicago O’Hare airport this month. According to the author of Stuck at the Airport blog, Harriet Baskas, goats provide sustainable vegetation management grazing services. The organization that was awarded the contract…
The Dodd Frank’s legislation that was passed in 2010 was created to prevent future financial crises. Section 1502 of this legislation requires companies to disclose the use of conflict minerals such as tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold that are “necessary…
By measuring activities related to Corporate Social Responsibility I think companies can do just that, validate reputations. As companies try to prove that they are reputable, sustainability measures may be the answer. The Global Reporting Index has several measures, which…
Did you know the oil from the fryers used to cook food in a variety of restaurants is now being used as fuel oil? My friends at Planet Fry are repurposing used cooking oil to fuel their delivery trucks. This…
We learned early in our schooling that plants help to clean the air we breathe. What many people don’t think about is the air we breathe in our homes and offices contain toxins. A common health problem from poor indoor…
Rob Fleming’s new book, Design Education for a Sustainable Future, compels us to think of how we need to evolve design education. By ushering in the Age of Integration, we move from an individualistic and competitive model to a new…
In my April blog post I talked about “Crowd Funding” for projects like, “Give a crap toilette paper.” (You can watch the video on YouTube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdWZ8WVv6qk. Innovation in sustainability covers the gamete. Today I want to introduce you to…