Environment

Focusing on voluntary renewable energy in the Northeast United States, this brief explains the current and potential value of voluntary renewable energy to meet state goals in the region, and identifies key barriers to renewable energy development to meet voluntary and corporate demand and potential opportunities and solutions for overcoming them.

As the year draws to a close, Cone Communications, evaluated a year’s worth of CSR trends to bring you the top 10 trends of 2017.

Tetra Tech created its 50th Anniversary Global Clean Water Fund to honor its history of leadership in the water sector and commitment to Engineers Without Borders’ life-changing work. These Tetra Tech-provided grants helped bring clean, safe water to communities in poor and underserved communities in remote areas around the world.

Twenty-three Xylem Watermark volunteers traveled from France, Germany, Sweden, and the US to not only install household solar power and water filtration systems, but to also deploy nine AquaTowers in rural schools within Siem Reap and Preah Vihear provinces of Cambodia.

Dell, General Motors, Trek Bicycle, Interface, Van de Sant, Humanscale, Bureo and Herman Miller are partnering to form NextWave, an initiative to develop a commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain. The industry groups are supported by The Lonely Whale and U.N. Environment.

Dell Inc. and Lonely Whale will form of a collaborative and open-source initiative called NextWave, convening General Motors, Trek Bicycle, Interface, Van de Sant, Humanscale, Bureo and Herman Miller. NextWave convenes leading technology and consumer-focused companies to develop the first-ever commercial-scale ocean-bound plastics supply chain. Additional supporting members of the group include UN Environment, 5Gyres Institute, Zoological Society of London and New Materials Institute.

In its latest analysis of US companies’ action on climate change, the nonprofit CDP recognized 21st Century Fox as a national leader in environmental sustainability. The annual report evaluates the strength and effectiveness of corporate sustainability efforts, and this year, it awarded 21CF an overall performance score of A-, a higher score than any of its media peers. The honor arrives as 21CF celebrates the 10-year anniversary of launching its corporate sustainability program, committing to addressing its environmental impacts and inspiring its global audience to take action.

This past November, TeamCITGO Aruba participated in the annual Aruba Hotel and Tourism Association (AHTA) Beach Cleanup from Baby Beach to the dog cemetery in San Nicolas. The event was the first volunteer outreach for the new volunteer organization and 95 TeamCITGO volunteers filled approximately 175 trash bags with trash from the beach area. Trash was then transported to the event’s central drop off point at Seroe Colorado to be properly disposed of.

In the midst of a population boom, Portland is in need of more residential space. With the city’s current infrastructure not able to keep up with that need, new private developments have to accommodate a growing population without damaging the surrounding environment. Hassalo on Eighth was conceived as an EcoDistrict—a series of buildings that share sustainable energy, water, and waste infrastructure—to ease the city’s housing squeeze, revitalize a neighborhood in need of development, and allow its tenants to reduce their carbon footprint by nearly a third.