According to Ikea’s CEO, Anders Dalhvig, “there’s no longer any doubt about whether taking environmental and social concerns seriously is good for business.” They’ve banned plastic bags, power many of their stores with the help of renewable energy and can transport six times the inventory in one truck (saving time, money and emisssions) thanks to their flat boxes (disassembled furniture).

And now Ikea has launched a new program that offers used IKEA pieces online, with plans to extend this idea to foreign outlets. As Peter Agnefäll, CEO of IKEA Sweden, explains,

“It is about taking an environmental responsibility for how our products are used in the longer term and making it easier for our customers to do their part for their responsibility towards the environment.”

This isn’t necessarily a new concept. Apple, for example, has been selling “refurbished” products for years, but this move by Ikea could be another trend-setting moment for the innovative retail giant.

[Source: Time, via Inhabitat]

Related LLT posts:

IKEA’s Flat Boxes Actually A Good Thing?

Retailers Explore Renewable Energy

Some brands are known almost as much for the packaging as for the product itself. Think of the familiar Heinz Ketchup bottle, Tiffany’s robin’s egg blue box, the shape and feel of a Dom Pérignon glass bottle. These iconic packages reassure the consumer of quality and tradition, and changing a winning formula can be a risky proposition. Conversely, every brand feels a powerful push to update to packaging that reflects its forward progress and innovation while maximizing efficiency and minimizing the footprint.

When Tropicana debuted its “new and improved” packaging last year, for example, the apparent goal was to update the box to fit the age of iPods. There was widespread consumer confusion. The $35 million redesign was so different that customers couldn’t find Tropicana on the shelf anymore. They missed the familiar orange-with-a-straw picture. The ‘crazy genius’ of brand guru Peter Arnell, the man behind the move, now seems, well, just ‘crazy.’ One blogger called Arnell “the Bernie Madoff of brands,” while others evoked the 1985 New Coke disaster. Less than a month later, Tropicana announced it would revert to the old packaging.

But Tropicana’s packaging ‘misadventure’ had been an effort to modernize the brand’s aesthetic. What about when a brand is trying to modernize its efficiency and environmental impact? Heinz literally turned its packaging tradition upside down, changing from its iconic glass bottle after more than a hundred years. The ketchup maker’s Top-Down™ and Fridge Door Fit™ bottles have won awards for packaging innovation and rave reviews from consumers. According to Heinz, the packaging’s lighter weight “reduces the overall weight to transport them, saving fuel and improving efficiency,” reflecting the company’s concern for it’s “impact on the environment.”

We spotted this piece by Liz Alderman in yesterday’s NY Times about the Champagne industry’s “drive to cut the 200,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide it emits every year transporting billions of tiny bubbles around the world. Packaging accounts for nearly a third of Champagne’s carbon emissions, with the hefty bottle the biggest offender.” But the industry must balance its mandate to lower its environmental impact with its  ”the luxurious image and ritualistic traditions of Champagne.”

As Alderman explains, that luxury and tradition has “been symbolized for centuries by the bottle, ever since Dom Pérignon, a Benedictine monk, thickened the glass in the mid-1600s to contain what was often referred to as “the devil’s wine” because its vessels exploded so often. Over time, the bottle was recalibrated until 900 grams, or about two pounds, became the standard weight in the early 1970s.”

Alderman writes,

Designing a new bottle was no small feat. The container still had to withstand Champagne’s extreme pressure. It would also need to survive the four-year obstacle course from the factory floor to the cellars to the dining table, and fit in existing machinery at all Champagne houses. And it had to be molded so that consumers would barely detect the difference in the bottle’s classic shape.

Alderman suggests progress is being made. The director of St Gobain, the factory where most Champagne bottles are made, claims “using less glass lowered the carbon emissions necessary to make each bottle by 7 percent, and allowed about 2,400 more to be placed inside delivery trucks, reducing the number of trucks on the road.”

As brands heed to the call- from within the industry and from consumers- to be “new & improved,” big questions loom large. Can a brand’s packaging evoke ‘luxury’ and ‘green?’ Can ‘tradition’ survive ‘forward-thinking?’ The ones that do it right will save money, strengthen their traditions and, if we’re lucky, help in saving the planet.

[Source: NY Times]

Related LTT post:

LTT Opinion: greening life’s little luxuries

WSJ Scrutinzes Bamboo Couture

Better living starts with “better know how.” That is, you have to know how and why to make those one degree changes. That’s why we like the EPA and Department of Transportation proposal this week to overhaul fuel economy labels to reflect how electric and alternative fuel vehicles stack up against gasoline passenger vehicles. The agencies propose grades for cars, ranging from A+ to a D. Apparently, there are no failing grades, though we suspect the Hummer might qualify if it was still in production. The grades will be based on mileage, greenhouse gas contribution and other types of polluting emissions. Consumers will be able to compare cars against all other vehicles, not just cars in the same class.

This type of grading system will, we think, have a profound effect on how cars are perceived. It’s one thing to know, on some level, that you car isn’t as fuel efficient as other cars. It’s another entirely to know you’re driving around a D+.

What grade will your car receive? Hybrids such as the Ford Fusion, Honda Civic, and Toyota Prius will get an A-minus, with a MPG rating between 40 and 58. Fuel-efficient cars such as the Nissan Altima, Toyota Corolla, and Volkswagen Golf will be given a B-plus for mileage between 30 and 30 miles per gallon. (Click PDF to see the full list of mileage and grades.)

Any Ferrari drivers out there? You’d get a D rating, where mileage is 12 miles per gallon or lower.

Officials expect to be finalized with new rating system early next year and used in 2012 model year cars. The published labels will be available for public comment for 60 days.

[Source: CNET]

In the late 1980’s, Kelly LeBrock starred in a series of Pantene print and television ads* with the slogan, “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” We didn’t. And now Proctor & Gamble, which makes Pantene, could run with “Don’t hate me because I’m sustainable.” The beauty giant has announced that beginning next year, the company’s Pantene Pro-V, Cover Girl and International Max Factor product lines will feature packaging made from renewable sugarcane-based plastics. The new packaging will be made by Brazilian plastics manufacturer Braskem, consisting of sustainably grown Brazilian sugarcane. The plastic will also be 100% recyclable.

According to Gina Drosos, Group President, Global P&G Beauty, “As we talk with women around the world, they tell us that they want to make themselves more beautiful without making their environment less beautiful. With this new packaging innovation, women can have confidence that their favorite brands are helping to make a difference.”

[Source The Living Principles via PSFK]

*By the way, everything is on YouTube these days.

Related “sustainable packaging” posts from LTT:

Brands: Curtis Packaging

When a company “goes green,” does motive matter?

Brands: Frito-Lay’s Compostable Bag

Dupont’s Awards For Packaging Innovation

Pre-Consumer Sustainability?

We’ve talked a lot about ‘eating local’ foods- see our video on locavore legend Pete Johnson- but here’s a functional product designed to make it easier to ‘buy local’ foods. Betabrand’s Cornucopia Bag is another clever creation from this San Francisco-based clothing company better known for introducing the world to Cordarounds, horizontal corduroy (”the quietest cords in the world”). The Cornucopia looks and feels like the logical evolution/improvement of the shopping bag. After all, plastic bags and local farmer’s markets are now as incongruous as a smoker in an airplane lavatory- it’s possible, but I wouldn’t recommend it- and the landscape of canvas totes is crowded with few really good designs.

The Cornucopia has two modes- as a picking bag slung over your shoulder or as a backpack-and has three shelved pockets, a main compartment, a laptop sleeve and a built-in change pocket.

The $120 price tag is pretty steep, and it’s only available online, but this could seriously improve those farmer’s market outings.

[Source: Gizmodo, via PSFK]

In our last post, we described Graham Hill’s ThinBike as one fewer excuse not to ride a bicycle. The sleek design, which allows the handlebars to twist and lock sideways and the pedals to fold down, makes the bike more manageable in tight quarters. The Copenhagen Wheel, featured in the product teaser above, offers functional innovation, with a hubcap that captures energy exerted while pedaling and braking, saving it for when you need an extra boost.

This brilliant invention from MIT’s aptly named SENSEable City Lab hooks on to any regular bicycle and transforms it into a hybrid electric. The design recently scored the top prize for U.S. entries at the 2010 James Dyson Awards. In addition to the motor, batteries and internal gear system encased in the red hubcap, the Copenhagen Wheel also includes sensors that provide data for a cycling-related mobile app. Cyclists can plan better bike routes, achieve exercise goals, connect with other cyclists, share their data across social media platforms and more.

Genius!

[Source: Guy Kawasaki]

Related Posts:

Pedal-powered Christmas Lights in Copenhagen

Copenhagen Cycle Chic

When we launched Love Tomorrow Today, the idea was to either create or find ‘things’ that would make it easier for people to live better. It’s true, life does come at you fast, and ’living well’ relies on a series of ‘good choices’ made quickly. What we eat, what we buy, how we get where we’re going…,these are decisions we make everyday, and, frankly, sometimes we choose the path of least resistance. Take, for instance, the choice to ride a bicycle. You don’t have to try hard to find a reason to drive instead of ride. Time- “I’d like to ride, but my car will get me there faster.” Weather- “it’s sunny now, but what if it rains later.” Business- “I probably should make a phone call or two.” Space- “where am I going to store the bike?” At least for that last excuse, Graham Hill has a simple solution- his flat-folding ThinBike that can fit into just about any slim space.

Let’s face it, whether you live in a studio apartment in Brooklyn or a house with a garage in suburban Vermont, finding a place to store your bike is a pain. As consumers, we tend to collect stuff, and however much space we have to fill, we do. The ThinBike was built with “the space dilemma” in mind. Working with Schindelauer, Graham- who is the founder of TreeHugger- created the custom bike that will fit into the tightest of spaces. With just a simple twist the handles lock to the side when not being used, and the bike’s pedals fold down to avoid any pant snags. In place of a greasy chain, Hill and co. went with a carbon belt drive. The ThinBike weighs 18 lbs, so “it’s just so heavy and unweildy” is no longer an excuse either.

Happy trails.

[Source: Treehugger via Inhabitat]

Patagonia basically invented the concept of “corporate social responsibility.” Founder Yvon Chouinard built a brand that blended quality lifestyle products with a commitment to improving the quality of that lifestyle, investing in ways to make things better and at a lower cost to the environment. From its Footprint Chronicles, which tracks the life-cycle impact of its products, to its partnership with Bluesign Technologies in promoting higher environmental standards for dyes and finishes in the textile industry, Patagonia leads the pack in almost every area.

We also highly recommend its blog, The Cleanest Line, where you’ll be able to find the company’s first interactive “environmental initiatives booklet,” which highlights that impressive example of “considered” business.

Patagonia’s Environmental Initiatives Booklet 2010

With everything from mandatory recycling and composting to hybrid ferries to Alcatraz, few cities in America are so aggressively chasing innovation in sustainability as San Francisco. Now the city is testing a parking system that adjusts the meter price based on demand at that moment. Electronic sensors measure the number of available spaces in real time. If there are a lot of empty spaces, the meter could be as low as 25 cents an hour. Park during a busy time, the meter might ask for as much as $6 an hour.

It’s another innovative concept, and it’s another one that might encourage carpooling and/or alternate means of transportation. The first phase of the project begins with 190 new meters in the Hayes Valley neighborhood.

Check out some other reasons we like the San Francisco Bay Area:

Bay Area Becomes ‘Better Place’

SF: mandatory recycling & composting

SF’s Mayor Newsom Eyes Ocean Power

Places: San Francisco’s Green Rental Car Program

Hybrid Ferry To Alcatraz

[Sources: PSFK,SF Park,CognitiveCities]

Intel, Khol’s and Whole Foods retained their top spots as the “biggest buyers of renewable energy in the U.S.,” as more companies and governments continue to partner with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to increase their green energy purchases. The top 10 renewable energy purchasers according the EPA are: Intel, Kohl’s, Whole Foods, the city of Houston, Dell, Johnson & Johnson, Cisco, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvannia, the U.S. Air Force and the city of Dallas.

As GreenBiz points out, “One notable absence from the top 10 is Pepsi, which used to hold the #3 spot but has since shifted its focus from buying renewable energy to funding on-site renewable energy projects.” On-site renewable energy projects seem to us to reveal a deeper commitment to integrating sustainability into the fabric of the business operations. But the EPA has minimum percentages of over-all energy needs, to prevent large companies from making token purchases.

The EPA’s Green Power Partnership works with some 1,200 companies, cities, states, college and universities to help them purchase solar, wind, geothermal, biomass, biogas and low-impact hydropower energy. Since a large purchase by one company might only account for a small amount of its energy while a smaller purchase provides more than enough energy for a different company, the EPA maintains a list of partners that purchase 100 percent or more of the energy they need. The list now has more than 550 entries.

Read more at GreenBiz.

The Chinese household appliance giant Haier has unveiled a new system at SinoCES that harnesses waste heat from shower water and transfers energy to the hot water tank. The PowerPad, as it’s called, captures 15% of the energy from the tap, which, according to the company, will be improved to up to 30% when it goes on sale 6 weeks from now.

Details of how exactly it works haven’t been provided, but observers say the 30% efficiency rating, though difficult to achieve, doesn’t seem to break any laws of thermodynamics.

Here at LTT, we love examples of harnessing wasted energy (see our posts on the dance that floor that captures the kinetic energy of dancers, the supermarket that captures the energy of cars entering and exiting its parking lot, and more). Solar, wind, geothermal, tidal…and now shower power.

The PowerPad is expected to hit the Chinese market soon at a price of about $600.

[Source: EcoFriend]

When it’s time to buy an appliance, you can check its Energy Star rating to know just how ‘eco’ that ‘eco-fridge’ is. Soon, you’ll be able to do the same with your favorite apparel brands. Approximately 100 apparel brands and retailers are teaming up to create an “eco-index system” to help measure the environmental impact of their manufacturing and distribution processes. Consumers will be able to choose between competing brands based on index ratings. As the WSJ explains,

“Apparel brands hope that they can proudly display their eco-badge coupled with their price tag. When products do receive a low efficiency score, manufacturers are likely to revise the manufacturing and design process to help improve the score before it sells. For example, Brooks redesigned its shoe boxes and plan to implement a recycling booth for shoe boxes after earning a disappointing rating.

Similar to how the Energy Star rating for home appliances and LEED certification for architecture are being utilized to determine the green reputation in other fields, apparel brands hope this new system can follow suit. In it’s initial phase of implementation, consumers wont have access to the ratings until the companies democratically standardize the formula for rating. Some companies, like outdoor apparel Timberland Co., are getting impatient with the slow pace of implementation and have gone ahead to make their own.

Some of the larger brands participating in this effort include the likes of Nike, Adidas, and Levi Strauss & Co..”

Like Timberland, we’re wondering what took so long, but just as Energy Star and LEED became more than just buzz words- they’ve become essential for forward-thinking brands- we think this could be a big game-changer.

[Source: The Wall Street Journal, via PSFK]

Five years ago, news that Seventh Generation, a pioneer in the eco-friendly consumer products biz, was making a deal with Wal-Mart would have seemed unlikely. Back then, these strange bedfellows resided on different ends of the responsibility spectrum. But, as we’ve covered in a number of posts on LTT, Wal-Mart has transformed itself into an industry leader in sustainability, demanding greener practices from suppliers, investing in renewable energies at its stores and other impressive green initiatives. Wal-Mart’s CEO Mike Duke, recently emphatically reaffirmed Wal-Mart’s sweeping environmental goals, saying at the company’s “2009 Sustainability Milestone Meeting” that eco-responsibility was no longer optional for companies wishing to be industry leaders.

So, in many ways, the deal makes perfect sense, but for his part, Seventh Gen’s founder Jeffrey Hollender turned to his blog to explain his decision to team with the box store giant.

“A lot of people, some of them among our most loyal long-time customers, will raise an eyebrow (at least!) at this news. Walmart, as we know, has a notoriously checkered corporate past and there aren’t many neutral opinions where the company is concerned. Its reputation hasn’t been great, often deservedly so, and many, including myself, assumed that Seventh Generation and Walmart would never have any relationship. But you can’t see into the future, and it’s always subject to change. Now it has and in ways we didn’t envision.

So why are we selling to Walmart? The short answer is because it’s time and we should. By this, I mean two things:

• First that Walmart is not the same company it was even five years ago. It’s a much different organization that has fairly dramatically and with little fanfare transformed itself into a serious sustainability leader. A few months ago, I wrote a long post about just how much remarkable progress the retailer has made and the tremendous level of positive influence it’s now wielding on its employees, customers, suppliers, and communities. I won’t repeat all that here. Suffice it to say that Walmart has come a very long way and is committed to going a great deal further.
• Second, Walmart’s size means we’ll reach people and places we couldn’t reach before and help countless more families lead safer, healthier lives. From rural outposts to inner cities, we’ll get much closer to fulfilling our mission to help all consumers protect the planet and themselves from harm.”

Pepsi is now leveraging its remarkable ‘Refresh’ Project to support communities affected by the BP oil spill. With the ‘Refresh Project,’ Pepsi has provided another powerful example of how a brand can “tap into the benefit of the greater good,’ diverting much of its advertising budget to go, instead, towards supporting community-based projects proposed and selected by consumers. So far this year, Pepsi has donated $1.3m for 32 grants each month.

Pepsi has committed $1.3 million towards ideas that benefit communities in the affected area (the five-state region of Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama). Applications were accepted between July 12 through the 16th, with online voting to begin August 2nd. Ideas/proposals with the most votes will be revealed online on September 22nd.

Last December, we suggested that if Pepsi succeeds, cause-related marketing could well be the next trend, a natural marriage of the corporate responsibility movement and the interactive power of social media. The campaign has won massive support from consumers and industry observers alike.

As Alex Hesz, client services director at ad agency Modernista, and author of Guilt Trip said:

They aren’t over-reaching or over-sentimentalising. There are no photographs of birds covered in oil or ruined beaches or stars and stripes.

We don’t mind if Pepsi enjoys a little positive consumer feeling if they do genuine, substantive good to earn it, and it feels as if this campaign is built on that principle.

It feels honest, and in CSR in general honesty is the single most important element of any branded work. Pepsi have got it right.

Pepsi Refresh Project

[Sources: PSFK, BrandRepublic]

Related LTT posts:

Pepsi Drops Super Bowl Campaign For “Cause-Related Marketing”

BP’s Re-Branding Failure

Brands: PepsiCo’s One Degree Changes

The (re) Rise of Odwalla

The story of Burt’s Bees is a remarkable one, from humble beginnings in the backwoods of Maine where apiarists Burt Shavitz and Roxanne Quimby slept in an 8′x8′ turkey coop…to today’s success as one of the leaders in natural personal care products. The company has helped shape a movement, along with the likes of Seventh Generation, Tom’s of Maine, and Ben & Jerry’s (interestingly, all born in New England), that saw social responsibility as central to brand identity.

That brand identity was pummeled by skeptics after Burt’s Bees was purchased by Clorox in 2007 for $913 million. But just as Ben & Jerry’s has tried to stay true to its roots after being purchased by Unilever, Burt’s Bees is, by all accounts, still driven by its founding mission: “to create natural, Earth-friendly personal care products formulated to help you maximize your well-being and that of the world around you.” Only now, thanks to deep pockets and Clorox’s distribution machine, it might push the industry towards ‘all natural’ even faster.

Among its recent innovations is a line of six natural toothpastes, all formulated with real Cranberry Extract, known to block bacteria from adhering to teeth and gums, helping prevent plaque formation. The Natural Multicare Toothpaste With Fluoride contains no sodium lauryl sulfate and no artificial colors, flavors, sweeteners or preservatives. Never tested on animals, the products are also free of petrochemicals and synthetic ingredients such as Phthalates. According to the company, the percentage of natural ingredients in the toothpaste is 99.2%.

The Cloroxes and Unilevers of the world, “faceless multinational, bestriding the globe, selling detergents and cleaning products” may, in fact, be using companies like Burt’s Bees and Ben & Jerry’s as “socially responsible fig leafs.” But that assessment tells only a fraction of the story. As Burt’s Bees CEO, John Replogle, told the NY Times not long after Clorox purchased them, “Don’t judge Clorox as much by where they’ve been as much as where they intend to go.” As Replogle explained then, ”Burt’s Bees’ 380 employees have an opportunity to influence the direction of Clorox, a company that generated $4.8 billion in sales last year and employs 7,800 people.”

To wit, the 2010 ImagePower Green Brands Survey named Burt’s Bees “the #1 Green Brand,” and the company’s green initiatives include an impressive list of achievements. In April, Burt’s Bees accomplished its goal of producing zero waste to landfill, years ahead of schedule. In the last year, the company reduced its energy consumption by 15.3% and saw a 5.5% decrease in non-product water use.

Mr. Replogle and co. hope to reinvent business with an idea they call “the Greater Good,” based on the premise that if companies are socially responsible, profit will follow. Employee bonuses are tied to performance metrics that include meeting sustainability goals.

See some of our other “bee-related’ posts:

German Airport To Use Bees To Monitor Air Quality

UK Supermarket to keep bees

The New York-base design firm, The Way We See The World, has developed a new version of the edible, disposable cups called Jelloware. Made of agar agar, a type of gelatin derived from algae and used in desserts, the Jelloware cups can be made in a variety of flavors to match the beverage.

The idea of an edible cup may strike some as a step into the fringe of the “loving tomorrow today” movement. But if you’ve ever spent time at, say, Ben & Jerry’s, you’re unfazed by the question “cup or cone?” The cone is the precursor to the Jelloware cup, the container that’s not just edible but central to the experience. Will we soon see bars offering Mojitos in mint flavored Jelloware cups? If bottled cereal milk can make it, anything can.

Especially in the summer, the season of the plastic cups at BBQs, we’d like to think the Jelloware cup has a future!

[Sources: The Way We See The World, PSFK, Treehugger]

Just like everyone, LTT enjoys reading about ‘high concept’ innovations- you know, the breakthrough in a lab somewhere that will make it possible to (fill in the blank) someday, the kind we can look forward to a generation from now. For instance, I’m holding out for that all-in-one solar-powered wrist watch cell phone personal computer GPS hair dryer. But what really excites us isn’t the reinventing of tomorrow’s wheel, it’s making today’s wheel better. And when it comes to that, the low-hanging fruit is very often improvements in the supply chain, including the packaging, which is usually the first thing to end up in the trash.

Yesterday, LTT met with Don Droppo Jr, President & CEO of family-owned Curtis Packaging, based in Sandy Hook, CT, to learn more about the ways they are blazing a trail in green packaging. “We’re a true testament to the idea that green business makes economic sense,” Droppo has said. At a time when the U.S. packaging industry has been steadily losing business to overseas competitors, Curtis has seen its annual sales double, thanks in large part to its focus on sustainability.

When cosmetics maker Estée Lauder asked Curtis to package its Origins natural-products line in “the most environmentally friendly paper out there,” Droppo’s research led him to shift the company’s entire business model. “I started to learn about sustainability and asked what my company could do so that we could be as environmentally conscious as possible,” he recently told Fortune magazine.

Curtis began by working with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to certify the paper in its packages was only purchased from FSC endorsed paper mills. Next, Droppo says, “we converted all of our energy needs to clean, renewable energy.” Curtis will be buying a total of 4,524,800 kWhs of renewable energy per year for the next 3 years, with the majority sourced through wind power and approximately 30% of the purchase will be a blend of renewable sources including locally generated wind and hydroelectric.

Initially, as you’d expect, Curtis saw its costs rise. But Droppo viewed that extra 10% to 15% in costs as a marketing expense. “Not only are we doing the right thing for the environment, but we’re getting a tremendous amount of exposure because of this.”

The innovations from Curtis now go well beyond “green paper.” The company’s R&D has led to innovations in materials and processing that have lowered cost and reduced environmental impact. “We have signed up new customers because of our ‘green’ commitment,” Droppo explains. “Hopefully after hearing the positive impact this has had on our business, other business owners or corporations may follow suit to do their part to help sustain the environment.”

Companies like Curtis Packaging are, in many ways, the unsung heroes of the sustainability movement. An innovation in screen-printing on compostable foil isn’t quite as sexy as a breakthrough in photovoltaic technology, but its measurable impact on our lives is considerably larger, at least today. We’ll continue to keep our eye on Curtis and other leaders in this space.

Some other recent posts on eco-friendly packaging:

Eco-Friendly Packaging Replaces PVC With Cardboard

Aveda’s New Bottle Cap Recycling Plan

Pulp Lamp: when packaging becomes the product

Brands: Frito-Lay’s Compostable Bag

Innovation at its most satisfying is often about presenting a new idea in the simplest of contexts. We spotted this product, from miniwiz, that does just that. The Solarbulb screws into any plastic bottle, and, voila!, you have yourself an upcycled lamp. The Solarbulb allows you to repurpose that plastic bottle (remember, 45 billion plastic bottles end up in U.S. landfills each year). All you’ll need is three or four hours of sun, and the solar bottle lamp thingy will provide up to five hours of uninterrupted LED illumination.

More info: secure.ultracart.com

When OK Go was planning its most recent viral video (profiled on this blog back in March), the band enlisted the help of Adam Sadowsky, president of Syyn Labs which has a reputation for merging art and technology to create interactive projects. The band knew it wanted a Rube Goldberg machine as the video’s key element. As Sadowsky explains in his TED presentation, a Rube Goldberg machine is a deliberately over-engineered machine that performs a very simple task in a very complex fashion, usually including a chain reaction. It’s a fascinating look behind the scenes of one of our favorite viral videos, and, in a way, it helps to explain our interest in it: as we all strive to lead more considered lives, we navigate this line between complex issues, chain reactions and simple tasks.

The truth is, LTT actually strives for the opposite of the Rube Goldberg machine- we look to address complexities through simple, one degree solutions. But what we really love is seeing where innovation, creativity and resourcefullness all meet up for a drink.

It’s no coincidence that when billionaire Richard Branson launched the US edition of his Virgin Airlines over here he chose the San Francisco Bay Area as its headquarters. The brand’s philosophy and attitude make Virgin America more like its Bay Area cohorts (Apple, Google, Facebook) than the big carriers (United, American, USAir…) with which it competes.

Virgin America, the three-year old innovative airline “startup,” was recently named the most eco-friendly airline in the industry. And yesterday, standing alongside the Governator (aka Arnold Schwarzenegger) and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome, Branson kicked off Virgin America’s inaugural international flight- from San Francisco to Toronto, with additional routes being added later this year. It’s growing- with style and brand innovation- at a time when the industry struggles.

The airline’s Burlingame-based headquarters was recently retrofitted to qualify for LEED Silver certification. In addition, it will become one of two “anchor tenants” in the airport’s new Terminal 2, the $383 million redesign and retrofit that will also meet LEED Silver standards. When completed in 2011, Terminal 2 will serve as California’s only airline hub. The new terminal will boast improved indoor air quality, reduced energy consumption, preferred parking for hybrids, a farmer’s market and will offer the first airport dining program in the country using Slow Food vendors.

The terminal will be “the greenest expansion of any airport in the United States of America,” San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom said. “We’re going to have a slow-food pavilion, a farmers’ market. All these values that everyone loves to mock us about are being put together in this unique, extraordinary environment.”

Newsom said that Virgin shares the Bay Area’s “values of sustainability, long-term business strategy, long-term branding strategy…(and have) an innovative spirit in their approach to the governance of an airline in an industry that needs a new spirit and an entrepreneurial approach.”

Offset your footprint in-flight

But it’s not just that the brand is moving a decidedly ungreen industry closer to green, it’s how it’s doing it. It’s throwing a party!

As Caroline McCarthy suggests,  Virgin America’s success has always been defined by “both tech-savviness and sex appeal.” Last year, it became the first U.S. airline to offer fleet-wide Wi-Fi access. At the launch yesterday, over cupcakes and champagne, guests were reminded that since its launch Virgin America has operated a brand new fleet that is up to 25% more fuel and carbon efficient than the average fleet flying domestically. The airline employs practices such as single engine taxiing, maximizing use of efficient ground power, utilizing advanced avionics to fly more efficiently, and cost index flying – the practice of regulating cruising speeds to reduce fuel burn.

Virgin America was also the first to offer guests the ability to offset the carbon footprint of their flight – in-flight via the touch-screen Red seatback entertainment through partner Carbonfund.org. Virgin America also voluntarily offsets its headquarters footprint on an annual basis. In addition, Virgin America has initiated recycling pilot initiatives and currently recycles in-flight waste from approximately 47 percent of its flight.

We’ll see how the rest of the struggling airline industry responds to Virgin America’s scrappy innovation.

Odwalla is no BP. Just about everything about the two companies is different. But could the oil giant learn a thing or two from the makers of Mango Tango?

If you’re a consumer of a certain age, you may remember Odwalla’s meteoric rise in the mid-1990s. With annual sales rising 30% per year, the company had quickly established a strong brand with enormous customer loyalty. That all changed in October of 1996, when health officials in Washington state informed the company that they had discovered a link between several cases of E. coli and Odwalla fresh apple juice.

By the end of the crisis, one child had died, more than 60 people had become ill, sales plummetted by 90%, and Odwalla’s stock price fell 34%. With pending lawsuits and a tarnished brand, the company seemed doomed. But, thanks to a considered and rapid response to the crisis, the company survived.

Though it’s hard to compare a relatively isolated incident of E. coli with the devastating Deep Horizon oil spill, it’s not hard to draw a parallel between events that threatened to bring down two companies and compare the response to each. The re-emergence of Odwalla, which boasts initiatives like its current “Plant A Tree Program,” is succeeding in ways BP’s can’t possibly.

As Mallen Baker explains in his Corporate Social Responsibility case study of Odwalla’s crisis management, “Odwalla acted immediately. Although at the point where they were first notified the link was uncertain, Odwalla’s CEO Stephen Williamson ordered a complete recall of all products containing apple or carrot juice.” Williamson has said, ”We had no crisis-management procedure in place, so I followed our vision statement and our core values of honesty, integrity, and sustainability. Our number-one concern was for the safety and well-being of people who drink our juices.” Within hours of the ‘outbreak,’ the company had an explanatory web site (notably, its first) that received 20,000 hits in 48 hours. Baker writes,

The next step was to tackle the problem of contamination. The company’s entire approach had been founded on fresh unpasteurised juice because only juice which had been untampered with could have the best flavour. The company decided quickly that this had been wrong. The company moved quickly to introduce a process called “flash pasteurisation” which would guarantee that E-coli had been destroyed whilst leaving the best flavoured juice possible.

Experts described Odwalla’s response as “the most comprehensive quality control and safety system in the fresh juice industry.”

Despite having to pay the largest fine ever assessed in a food industry case by the US Food and Drug Administration ($1.5 million), Odwalla recovered quickly. The year after the crisis, Odwalla was voted “Best Brand Name in the Bay Area” by San Francisco Magazine, “the first indication amongst many,” says Baker, “that Odwalla’s reputation had survived.”

Its recent Plant a Tree program reflects the degree to which the brand’s identity- as a thoughtful brand, built on the core principles to which Williamson referred- and its corporate operations are in concert.

Visitors to Odwalla’s site are invited to select where the company will plant a tree on their behalf. 200,000 trees will be planted by the program, at Odwalla’s cost – the choice of which states/state parks will be based on vote tally, which visitors can influence by spreading the message via social media. A Facebook Microforest app helps friends join forces to plant a virtual Microforest. Posting your participation in tree-planting on Twitter encourages your followers to do the same. Odwalla’s stated goal is to allow fans and participants to “naturally protect the world from ordinary”.

[Sources: PSFK, Mallen Baker, Odwalla]

As we noted earlier this month, BP’s Deep Horizon oil spill appears to be the worst man-made environmental disaster of our lifetime. The damage to the Gulf Coast, the ecosystem, the economy, people’s lives, is difficult to fathom. But the disaster also provides an interesting case study in the do’s and don’ts of 21st century branding. The era of “Beyond Petroleum,” BP’s $200 million re-branding effort to convince consumers that environmental concerns were central to shaping business operations, is surely over. Jim Gregory suggests in TalentZoo, “BP provides a case in point of a brand that got way out front of its business process and culture to produce tremendous exposure to risk.” As the above video shows to brilliant effect, that glaring disconnect between how the company was branded and how it actually operated is now so easily ridiculed.

Thanks to the Upright Citizens Brigade for eviscerating BP’s response to the spill. Nothing makes a point quite as effectively as satire.

Going green? There’s an app for that. Actually, as we’ve noted, there are a lot of apps out there that help us lead more considered lives- apps that will help save time, energy and money in just about every area of life: Gas, Driving and Car Maintenance, Traveling, Carpooling and Mass Transit, Home Energy Use, and finally, Greener Shopping.

The GoodGuide iPhone app is one such app, acting as the angel on your shoulder when you’re out and about. With a database of over 50,000 products, the GoodGuide provides detailed ratings for a product’s health, environmental and social credentials. If you’re standing in the supermarket aisle, wondering how your choices of toothpaste, for example, match up in those categories, just scan the barcodes to make an informed decision. Colgate scores 10 out of 10 for “health,” for instance, but just 6.5 on its environmental record. Not surprisingly, Tom’s of Maine fairs better, scoring an 8.8 overall.

For consumers that care about making a “better” purchasing decision, this app puts the power right in your hand. Happy downloading!

[Sources: GoodGuide, The Guardian]

What to do with all our trash! It’s a dirty job, but somebody’s got to do it. But Waste Management CEO David Steiner thinks it can actually be a lot cleaner. Under his leadership, WM has invested in a variety of techniques and technologies that go beyond landfills and garbage incineration. He hopes his company will begin turning garbage in renewables, like ethanol, bio-diesel and natural gas. ”We don’t want to play just in the picking up and delivering,” says Steiner in a recent interview with Forbes. “We want to own conversion, too. We want to own the technology.”

We’ve covered a number of WM’s projects, from their BigBelly Solar Trash Compactors to their quest for “black gold”- sewage to biofuel. As Jonathan Fahey writes in his piece for Forbes, Steiner has “made four investments in startups and joint ventures that are experimenting with techniques like incinerating trash with a plasma, speed-composting organic waste and using heat and chemicals to turn trash into ethanol. Waste Management is even dabbling in the front end of waste production: In May it invested in a company that is developing a technology that aims to reduce the amount of plastic needed to make packaging, appliances and electronics.”

Like Wal-Mart, which has surprised many with its heavy investment in green technology and protocols, Waste Management sees the value in “going green.” Customers increasingly “want to be able to say they produce no waste, a scary proposition for a company named Waste Management. Municipalities are requiring that garbage be separated into a larger number of different piles (plastic here, glass there). Competition for the job of processing the sorted waste is coming not just from other waste companies but also from technology companies that think they can transform this trash into higher-value materials.”

As Fahey explains, Waste Management recently invested in a company near Boston called Harvest Power, which aims to cut composting time to six to eight weeks, from twice that, by creating optimized temperature and moisture environment for the bugs that break down organic matter. With cities like San Francisco forcing residents to separate compostables from other trash, this could be a big market for WM. “Now 98% of the nation’s food waste goes into landfills, according to Harvest Chief Executive Paul Sellew.”

All these efforts, Fahey suggests, provide a way “to position Waste Management as a green company and entice investors with its prospects for higher growth.” And WM has some money to experiment. “In 2009 the company earned $994 million on $11.8 billion in revenue and produced $1.2 billion in free cash.” It may be companies like Wal-Mart and Waste Management that can afford to test out new methods and have the clout to make them industry standards.

[Source: Forbes]