Even lawyers are realizing their impact on their environment. No seriously, lawyers are sharp enough to know that using all that virgin paper cannot be good to the environment. But when it comes to driving internal sustainability initiatives? Many still respond by: "we recycle". Period.
To give an idea of how far we have progressed since the original advocates pressed for electronic recycling programs, Wal-Mart is calling for more uniform U.S. guidelines regarding consumer electronics, energy consumption and recycling.
We ask design guru Nate Burgos, named Fast Company’s debut "Fast 50 Champions of Innovation", to reflect on how the Internet changed how designers 'make connections' and why government and 'big business' should care about environmental sustainability and design activism. Here's what the ever quotable Burgos said...
So, for all you energizer bunnies out there, here are a few tips from Montreal based Vivace Design ‘ s Karine Himbeault that, incidentally, we found take 60 seconds or less to actually carry out. Oh and Vivace Design produced a stunning portfolio following their advice. Gone gorgeous green in less than 60? Read on.
I caught the "story of stuff": a 20-minute, fast-paced look at the dark underbelly of our consumption patterns. The clip exposes the links between a host of environmental and social issues while showing you the real cost of that $5 radio (metals from South Africa, 14 years olds from the Congo dropping out of school to work in factories...).
1. Less is more. If you’re smart, you can say a lot with very little. 2. Green goes black. For website design, the “opposite is the ruleâ€: black is the new green. 3. More really is more.There is one place in the world of greening your business where more really is more.
Today, the World Wildlife Federation (WWF) "graded" the top ten holding companies for luxury brands - including Bulgari, Coach, Hermes, L'Oreal, LVMH, PPR, Richemont, Swatch, Tiffany and Co and Tods - on "a scale of A+ to F for their environmental, social and governance performance and what non-governmental organisations had said about them".
Ah, Christmas. ‘Tis the perfect season to be merry, bright and…green. But it’s not always easy telling your rosy-cheeked in-laws or your office colleagues, their hands brimming with beautiful, glossy (yet unsustainable) paper-wrapped gifts, on why you opted to give them local wine wrapped in a burlap sack (â€oh, but it’s chic and reusableâ€).
The New York Times recently reported on how a group of scientists out of North Carolina State University are looking to turn trees into new energy sources using a controversial genetic engineering process that reduces the amount of lignin, a chemical compound that interferes with efforts to turn the tree’s cellulose into biofuels like ethanol.
2. Grasp - quickly - the content that everyone else misses Scour and break top environmental news, yes, but also check out what your activist, researcher and even police (crime and traffic will always make news) friends are up to - they are usually the first with their eye on the latest news-worthy content.
Tip: Search the forums on places like Meetup.com to see what other environmental and special interest groups are talking about.
It's estimated that 97 billion e-mails whisk through cyberspace every day. And according to GreenPrint Technologies, despite 20th century predictions of a paperless office, Americans use enough sheets every year to build a 10-foot-high wall that would stretch from New York to Tokyo and beyond.
If the Victoria (dirty) Secret fiasco is anything of a hint of what’s to come for corporations like Sears from the new breed of powerhouse non-profits and their vigilant, eco-savvy members, Sears’ management is going to incur a few expenses over the next couple of months, including:
Advil extra-strength costs for 8am boardroom headaches: $65.
