Responsible Production & the Circular Economy

The U.S. Department of State, World Environment Center (WEC), Le Groupe-conseil baastel Itée (Baastel), and RioSlum Studio are proud to announce the opening of applications for “Power to Grow: The Innovation Challenge Fueled by La Red de Innovación e Impacto” (Power to Grow). Power to Grow is a search to discover and reward organizations that are empowering micro-enterprises in Central America.

Lund’s Fisheries is pleased to announce that starting next week at Seafood Expo North America in Boston, the firm will offer Fair Trade CertifiedTM scallops to its customers. The independent certification group Fair Trade USA has granted Lund’s provisional approval to sell scallops using its Fair Trade label. The Atlantic sea scallop fishery is the first in the United States to be Fair Trade Certified, and Lund’s is the fourth seller to offer Fair Trade Certified scallops. Lund’s was audited by independent third party certifier SCS Global Services earlier this year, and is currently working to complete the process and earn final certification.

Even with the growth in women-owned businesses, these suppliers are having difficulty competing for corporate and government contracts and earning less than 1% of the money spent by the organizations, according to Elizabeth Vazquez, CEO and co-founder of WEConnect International, who helped create the corporate-led global nonprofit to educate and connect WOB with qualified buyers dedicated to diversifying their supply chains.

Watch Maria Mendiluce, Managing Director at WBCSD, outline the circular economy and the action that business can take in her speech at TEDxDonauinsel.

Cascadian Farm, a pioneer in the organic food movement, and parent company General Mills, announced a five-year $125,000 contribution to Grain Millers to support soil health research on oat farms in the Upper Midwest. Research findings and best practices will be shared at field day events to help advance environmental and economical outcomes for farmers.

If a company wants to do a side project or charitable initiative to support an environmental or social cause, that is all well and good. There’s no penance in sustainability though.

Fair Trade USA, the leading certifier of Fair Trade products in North America, and PUR Projet, a social business working with companies to regenerate ecosystems, announce a new partnership to develop community-driven agroforestry projects within Fair Trade supply chains in Côte d’Ivoire. Côte d’Ivoire produces about 39% of the world’s cocoa and has lost about 85% of its forest since the 1960s largely due to agricultural expansion. The partnership will equip cocoa producers to better revitalize and protect their land.

Global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland releases three new Timberland X Thread men’s footwear styles for spring, made with Thread’s recycled Ground to Good™ fabric. The collection marks the brand’s second collaboration with Thread, a Certified B Corporation that transforms plastic bottles from the streets and canals of Haiti and Honduras into one of the most responsible fabrics on the planet.

Just as SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals, so does Dell. From powering five Academy Award-winning films for visual effects, to helping musicians push the boundaries of live electronic performance, to enabling an entrepreneur to create a renewal in wallpaper popularity and anything in between.

The amount of sugar in Nestlé’s UK and Irish products has been reduced by more than 2.6 billion teaspoons since 2015 thanks to an ongoing, intensive programme of innovation and reformulation.

A report, issued today by Nestlé, reveals that more than 60 billion calories have also been removed from Nestlé UK & Ireland’s portfolio in the same time period.