Environment

The Georgia Conservancy, Kia Motors Manufacturing Georgia (KMMG), the Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT), The Ray and the Chattahoochee Nature Center will all use shovels and work gloves on September 17 to install a 7,000-square foot pollinator garden at the Georgia Visitor Information Center (VIC) on Interstate 85 in West Point. The pollinator garden will be the first installed at any Georgia DOT facility.

Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life Services, is once again the top-rated company in its sector on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), giving the group 12 consecutive years of recognition in Corporate Responsibility. Sodexo was also ranked the number one consumer services companies for the third year in a row, reinforcing the success of Sodexo’s global commitments to sustainability.

Humanscale, Bureo, Owens Corning and Garden Tower Project have received Living Product certification for new and redesigned products that meet the high bar of the Living Product Challenge, that is, to design and manufacture products that function as elegantly and efficiently as anything found in the natural world.

The FDA has banned 19 antibacterial ingredients used in hand and body soaps, citing a lack of evidence demonstrating that these ingredients are safe and more effective than ordinary soap for preventing illness. The ban specifically targets consumer products and does not apply to soaps used in hospital settings and food services. This is part of a larger effort by the FDA to push consumers toward using ordinary soap and water for sanitization.

Earthworm-inspired innovation wins $10K Living Product Prize

The Green Key Eco-Rating Program, the lodging industry’s certification program of choice, has been renovated, and we are pleased to announce that version 3.0 (V3) is now available!

The move to V3 is all part of Green Key Global’s continuing goal of remaining the leading environmental certification body in the industry and to align ourselves with GSTC Recognition status.

A University of Oregon design team has won the first Living Product Prize in the Biomimicry Global Design Challenge for the Living Filtration System, an innovation that creates healthier soils by preventing nutrients from leaving fields in runoff. Their $10,000 Living Product Prize win was announced at the Living Product Expo in Pittsburgh, PA yesterday.

Merck & Co., Inc., Kenilworth, N.J., USA recently issued its 2015/2016 Global Corporate Responsibility Report. The report provides an overview of the company’s corporate responsibility activities, progress and performance in the areas of Access to Health, Environmental Sustainability, Employees and Ethics & Transparency.

Today, severe droughts are driving substantial economic losses, hundreds of millions of people still lack reliable access to clean water, and many critical water resources are being depleted or contaminated. Solving these water challenges will take a variety of solutions, including recycled water.

Hidden away or underground, wastewater infrastructure is an essential component to growing, sustainable communities. Around the world, this infrastructure enables cities to develop, economies to grow and communities to thrive.