Michael Hirschhorn and Mona Chun, co-creators of The Circular Design Glossary, introduce the new guide to understanding the future of furniture design. It was developed by Mebl | Transforming Furniture, where Richard and Mona are founder/CEO and chief operating and sustainability officer, respectively, in partnership with the Sustainable Furnishing Council. Our homes are the center of our lives and a […]
Maintaining a comfortable home is important. No one wants to freeze in the wintertime or melt in the summertime. Yet, the cost — both for your bank account and the environment — of heating and cooling a home can be high. Luckily, there are simple ways to limit energy usage without giving up your comfort. One way to do this […]
The U.S. Department of Energy recently released a study showing how America could decarbonize its power grid using solar energy and power 40% of the nation’s electricity by 2035. They predict the transition won’t result in higher electricity prices. This is good news for the environment. Solar prices have dropped so far it is actually profitable to install solar pretty […]
Christian Schiller, co-founder of cirplus, talks about the company’s digital marketplace for circular plastics. Think of it as Match.com or Tinder for European plastics recyclers, including companies that collect post-consumer materials and those that sell processed recycled plastic for use in new products. Cirplus connects sellers with buyers and collects fees for speeding the transaction along. Sellers save on marketing […]
Patricio Grassini discusses the potential to feed the world without more deforestation and conversion of wetlands to agriculture. He is Sunkist Distinguished Professor of Agronomy at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and co-leader of The Global Yield Gap Atlas, the world’s leading database describing 13 major food crops. If the human population continues on its current growth path, the World Resources […]
Google’s circular economy leader, Mike Werner, explains the many sustainability renewable energy, waste reduction, and internal strategic changes that have established parent company Alphabet at the forefront of corporate sustainability. Google achieved carbon neutrality for its search engine operations in 2007 and a decade later had matched 100% of its energy use with renewable energy credits. It pioneered reusing server […]
About 800,000 years after humans first used and controlled fire, scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s National Ignition Facility (NIF) in Berkeley, Calif., ignited a new kind of fire for the first time. On December 5, a nuclear fusion reaction successfully produced more power than it took to start. Then, it flickered out. A potentially limitless source of carbon-free […]
Meet Garry Cooper Jr., co-founder and CEO of Rheaply. Garry has been recognized as an innovator by Forbes, Chicago Business Magazine, and Crain’s. Much of the waste in our world is the result of overstocking and excess inventory in business and government. As much as $600 billion in surplus goods are lying unused in some of the largest organizations in […]
Brad Pedersen, co-founder and chairman of Pela, joins Mitch Ratcliffe to discuss the company’s sustainable products. We recently spent a couple of months testing the Lomi home composter from the Kelowna, British Columbia-based maker of compostable phone cases, low-carbon and low-waste sunglasses, and now, appliances for a sustainable life. Pela launched as a maker of phone cases made from flax […]
Mike Phillips, CEO of Sense, a developer of home energy monitoring and management devices, discusses the impact of the Inflation Reduction Act on home energy and EV charging in the United States. When the $369-billion Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed in early September, the stage was set for a race to reduce U.S. emissions by 40% compared to 2005 […]