The new year has arrived with a renewed hope for the environment as the private and public sectors direct their attention to the growing shift from “business as usual” to renewable energy technologies. Sustainability initiatives and climate change garnered mainstream attention following last year’s increase in natural disasters. It also positioned 2012 as the most extreme weather year on record for the lower 48 states, according to the National Climatic Data Center.

In the months following Sandy, the second costliest hurricane following Katrina with an estimated $62 billion in damage, many neighborhoods are still reeling in the after affects. Natural disasters have provided the needed catalyst for sustainability initiatives as great turmoil resulted in a newly discovered interest in the growing climate problem. The extreme weather events in 2012 summarize what scientists are predicting to be the “new normal” as the climate continues to warm. As city officials in New York and New Jersey focus on rebuilding, the Clean Tech Revolution is gaining relevance. An example of one opportunity that is focused on smart growth is New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Cleaner Greener Communities Program. Launched in 2011, the program has established $100 million in competitive grants and plans to use innovative technologies to improve its economic, energy and environmental development while building sustainable communities.  

With the advancements in clean technology, comes a need for greater social responsibility and increased stakeholder engagement. In the past months, we at Tradepal have engaged with various corporations, agencies and institutions to explore best practices to bridge the sustainability gap between consumers and businesses. The greatest disconnect we have noticed following the influx of social media and technological advancement, is how to accelerate consumer behavior change. According to psychologists Wendy Wood and David Neal, consumers often “act like creatures of habit, automatically repeating past behavior with little regard to current goals and valued outcomes.” When considering the adoption of new behaviors, it seems to come down to the intent and behavior of the individual.

In an effort to ignite behavior change, former President Bill Clinton appealed to advertising agencies last June at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. He asked advertisers to leverage the power they have to transcend their messaging and assist in shaping the future of our planet. In the digital age, sustainability is no longer a tree hugger concept. Organizations including start-ups, large corporations and state and local governments are embracing renewable energy, green transportation, electric motors, recycling and reuse initiatives as a means to create efficiencies while reducing our environmental footprint.

As we embark on 2013, the following concepts offer suggestions for transitioning consumers toward positive behavior change:

• Engaging consumers in a circular economy instead of a linear economy where infrastructure and technology provide and reward incentives that replace the make-use-dispose mentality.
• Provide education, skills and real life business examples to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
• Create an opportunity for brands to highlight consumers as part of the solution.
• Identify ways to reframe consumers view of ownership to change consumers behavior.
• Support and inspire change agents to put into action new initiatives.  
• Engage employees to spill over their green choices from work to their homes and communities.
• Explore ways companies can leverage their potential to deepen customer loyalty by involving them in closing sustainability loops through reusing and repurposing.
• Promote local sustainability initiatives via reuse by fostering partnerships between citizens and businesses, governments and non-governmental organizations.

Video: The Ellen MacArther Foundation

Author: Tamar Burton

(Source: tradepal.com)

Just two years ago, the Climate Vulnerability Forum and DARA created a partnership to raise the profile of the impacts of climate change and with it the benefits of transitioning to a climate resilient low-carbon economy. Released in September, the 2nd edition of the Climate Vulnerability Monitor was developed to measure the global impact of climate change and the carbon economy at a national level. This latest monitor uses 34 climate and carbon related indicators to calculate and compare the vulnerability of 184 countries in 2010 and 2030, and covers four impact areas (environmental disasters, habit change, health impacts and industry stress).

Some climate inactivity findings include:

• Human Dimension: Nobody is spared the global climate crisis. Twenty more years of inaction could lead to up to 1 million climate-related deaths per year by 2030.
• Economics: Climate action is a worthy investment, yet financial outlays to adapt to climate change are underestimated.
• Social Value: Climate inaction jeopardizes global development and poverty reduction efforts.
• Regulation: Today’s regulatory decisions are mandated by outdated estimates of the negative effects of climate inaction.

To add some perspective, based on the latest U.N. population projections, five billion people will live in urban areas by the year 2030. These cities of the future will not only bear the burden of climate change and its symptoms, including an increasing demand for power, transportation and sewage, but in another 20 years the population is estimated to almost double.

In recent months, the focus on the carbon economy has swelled following reports of extreme weather conditions. Although this climate issue has been recognized for years, it has been a challenge of translating information into action. Bloomberg has provided a list of sustainability indicators around energy investment, the growing cleantech sector and climate change, among others. The list also provided insight into how these areas are perceived by consumers. Here is a snapshot:

• 78%: polled investors who recognize that climate change is a threat to the environment.
• 75,000: total workers currently employed by the U.S. wind power industry.
• $10 billion: annual savings on U.S. electric bills due to new light bulb standards.
• 5 percentage points: the increase in climate change beliefs since March.
• 75%: world’s surface that had unusually hot summers each year over the last decade.

Following the growth of urbanization and the requisite consumerism that built our economy, to reverse that direction is an endeavor. While the impacts of climate change are continually being explored, proactive ventures to implement cleantech, reduce electricity demand and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, and create jobs are growing. From its early emergence in the 1990s, cleantech was used to describe a group of emerging technologies. Since then, it has defined the shift from business as usual to the evolution of second-generation products or services to accommodate 21st century energy requirements. In 2007, this area received a record $148 billion in new funding in the midst of rising oil prices and climate change policies encouraging the focus on renewable energy.

An example of job creation is found in Sacramento where over $250 million in federal funding has been secured for clean technology and energy efficiency over the past 13 years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A leader in cleantech job creation, the region currently sustains over 14,000 jobs and has demonstrated success as an engine for job development and economic growth. By 2018, it is forecast that three clean technology sectors will amass revenues in excess of $325 billion, these include solar photovoltaics, wind power and biofuels. The increasing use of the natural resources of wind, sun and water will offer renewable energy opportunities as well as avenues to invest in the growing cleantech revolution. Investing in the resilience of our environment is essential, yet it will take a consolidated effort to implement clean technologies, create jobs and encourage economic growth.

(Source: tradepal.com)

Our mission, at Tradepal, is to power peer-to-peer commerce. Our goal is to contribute to building smarter communities. Our passion is to encourage the Forgotten R of the Environment: Reuse. 

We empower users to bring ReUse back into the sustainability equation by providing a simple way to list, share and trade unused items.

(Source: tradepal.com)

“The sharing economy is not motivated by environmental benefits”. This is the result of a recent survey by professors from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of South Carolina. According to their findings, the most important reasons why people share are financial constraints and convenience. Therefore the study suggests that companies looking to win over new customers should emphasize monetary benefits instead of sustainability in their marketing. This statement is yet another sign that the role of sustainability is currently not being sufficiently acknowledged in the collaborative consumption discussion. But I think it should. Here’s why: 

Sustainable development, as defined by the United Nations, is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Being on the agenda of many governments, NGOs and corporations, sustainability is a larger and more mainstream concept than collaborative consumption. Apart from the fact that “going green” has gained broad acceptance among consumers, most governments and companies put a large amount of resources towards meeting specific sustainability goals such as CO2 reduction. Thus in comparison to the attention sustainability has received in the last decade, the sharing economy is still a small phenomenon. 

As sharing economy advocate Rachel Botsman points out in her book “What’s mine is yours”, collaborative consumption has the potential to help achieve sustainability goals by reducing waste and pollution as well as extending the life-cycles of products. Transactions between individuals that were inconvenient in the pre-internet age are becoming worthwhile again thanks to the coordination through modern technology. For instance, instead of throwing away your clutter or laboriously trying to resell or re-gift used objects offline, online platforms make it easy to distribute goods to where they are most needed. In other words, acting sustainably has become a lot simpler. 

But how large is the environmental impact of the sharing economy really? Although it is still too early to assess the long term benefits of the sharing economy, there have been attempts to measure the positive impact of individual applications such as carsharing. It is estimated, for instance, that every shared car replaces nine to 13 owned ones. As 20% of total U.S. energy-related CO2 emissions are produced by personal vehicles, car and ridesharing platforms could significantly contribute to CO2 reduction.

Most consumers may merely see these benefits as a ‘nice side-effect’. However since the sharing economy could significantly contribute to a sustainable future, it is imaginable that global players involved in the sustainability debate will find exactly this aspect most interesting. Therefore in contrast to the above findings that collaborative marketplaces should not advertise with environmental benefits, I believe that the sharing economy can profit from associating with sustainability. This may give it the attention it needs to reach the next level. 

Guest Blogger: Francesca Pick

(Source: tradepal.com)

Could internet geeks be the new heros for sustainability? If you rank this based on new evidence that increased dependence on online activities can impact carbon emissions, then yes.

A study just published by GeSI, titled Measuring the Energy Reduction Impact of Selected Broadband-Enabled Activities Within Households highlights not just the challenge entailed in addressing climate change, but also the opportunities. The GeSI stands for Global e-Sustainability Initiative that is a strategic partnership of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector and organizations committed to creating and promoting technologies and practices that foster economic, environmental and social sustainability. 

With the support of BT, Ericsson, Verizon, Deutsch Telecom the GeSI study was implemented and assessed the link between broadband usage and net energy reduction. The findings supported that by making the world’s energy infrastructure more efficient via the combined benefits of smart grids, transportation, buildings and the increased adoption of travel substitution, the result could be a global reduction of carbon emissions by 15 percent.

To make this a reality, the following eight online activities would need greater adoption, as measured by the study:

1. Online banking
2. Music and video downloading
3. Telecommuting
4. E-mail use
5. Use of the Internet as a primary news source
6. Online shopping
7. Online education
8. Use of digital photography

On the micro-level, this success would be dependent on the increased adoption of these eight online activities at the residential level. To quantify this, the report showed how we contribute to reduced energy consumption and resulting carbon emissions at a net rate of around 2 percent of total national levels in the U.S., Germany, Spain, Italy, the U.K. and France. This reduction would be the equivalent to removing 55 million vehicles off the roads. 

Verizon alone has over 130M customer connections ranging from wire, wireless, broadband and video and is focused on minimizing environmental impact of operations and supply chain. Based on these eight consumer activities, the study evidenced the role of the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in addressing climate change and ultimately facilitating efficient and low carbon development.

For additional reading on breaking the sustainability barrier, visit:

The Zeronauts: The Modern Argonauts

The business of self storage is a United States-based industry that began to appear in the 90s and grew by 3,000 new facilities annually from the years 2000 to 2005. By 2009, there were 46,000 storage facilities in the United States. Additional facilities are found in Canada with over 3,000 spaces and Austria with more than 1,000 and totals 58,000 facilities worldwide. 

Based on the 2004 U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 40 million people in the United States move annually. Part of the reason for the growing demand for storage stems from the various life stages such as college, marriage, divorce, retirement and death of a family member and various natural disasters. 

Here are some statistics on the storage epidemic:

• In 2010, 45.3 million people lived in a different home than one year earlier.
• Currently, one in ten households rent a self storage unit.
• The total rentable self storage space equals an area over three times the size of Manhattan Island, NY.

The four most common state-to-state moves in 2010 were, California to Texas 69,000 movers, New York to Florida 55,000, Florida to Georgia 50,000, and California to Arizona 47,000. 

By 2010, the storage epidemic - and the failure to pay for storage after 90 days had become so common that cable networks launched two shows on the trend. Storage Wars and Auction Hunters have been growing in ratings ever since. Storage Wars has drawn over 5 million viewers and averages 2.1 million per episode. With the increasing amount of ‘stuff’ people store, additional programs have debuted including Auction Kings, Pawn Stars, each stemming from the desire to find a good deal from someone else’s no longer used items.

While this has been labeled entertainment, the core problem stems from the failure of people to part with their ‘stuff’. Imagine all of the outdated electronics and furniture that could have been put back to use years ago rather than storage. 

Additional Reading:

Did You Know You Harbored $7,000 in Unused Items

Are Yard Sales Losing Their Curb Appeal?

We recently met John Elkington, author of “The Zeronauts: Breaking the Sustainability Barrier”. Elkington’s book explores ways in which corporations, citizens, cities and countries can tackle the civilizational challenges at the intersection between demography, consumerist lifestyles, natural resource availability and climate change.

We were impressed by the clarity of the message and by how the debate can easily be shifted from whether global warming is manmade to how can a particular creative class, “the Zeronauts”, drive us to a more sustainable and secure world. 

This book is meant to be a wake up call that encourages leaders to adopt the virtue of zero footprint as a management concept to help break the “sustainability barrier” by triggering a reimagining and a rethink that would lead the Zeronauts towards the discovery of leading processes and technologies.

KG

This World Wildlife Fund eco ad by Saatchi & Saatchi, circa 2007, illustrates perfectly the correlation between saving paper and saving forests.

Big props to the Saatchi Copenhagen team: Simon Wooller, Cliff Kagawa Holm and Silas Jansson.

(Source: saatchi.dk)

(Source: mbartstudios.com)

A recent study led by Dr. James Fourqurean of Florida International University, proposed that seagrass could be the oceans’ best-kept secret to mitigating global climate change. The study, “Seagrass Ecosystems as Globally Significant Carbon Stocks,” suggests that  our coastal ecosystems can store equal or greater amounts of carbon than terrestrial ecosystems. Seagrass meadows can store up to twice as much carbon as the world’s forests. 

However, according to Dr. James Fourqurean, seagrass meadows are among the world’s most threatened ecosystems. These coastal systems are being lost at an alarming rate. Approximately 2 percent of coastal systems are removed or degraded annually, which is four times the annual estimates of tropical forest loss.

While much attention has been placed on protecting terrestrial ecosystems such as the REDD program - United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Deregulation, the coastal ecosystems have not garnered as much awareness. No programs exist to protect a resource that currently stores as much as 73 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. Our oceans represent the largest active carbon sinks on Earth as they absorb over a quarter of the carbon dioxide emissions. This research highlights the need for restoration of coastal systems to enable mangroves, seagrasses and tidal salt marshes to be restored and to continue to keep centuries of carbon in the ocean floor. We look forward to the expert opinions on the development of effective carbon management at Rio+20 later this month.

Image: Biological and Physical Pumps of Carbon Dioxide

(Source: tradepal.com)

On February 29th we celebrate a once-every-four-year event as we get an extra day added to our 365 day calendar year. In honor of Leap Day, why not celebrate this ‘extra day’ by taking a leap into collaborative consumption and adopting a new way to help others, help the environment or just help ourselves?
 
If you are planning to attend SxSW, then you may already be using a peer-to-peer service like Airbnb, Zipcar, or carpooling to the many events? If so, then you are part of what everyone is talking about. Just two years ago it was viewed as a thing of the future, but collaborative consumption has bypassed its trendy status and has become mainstream.

If you aren’t heading to Austin, Texas, then here are some ways to take a leap and participate:

1. Do you listen to music online? If you use Spotify and share it with your friends on Facebook, you are driving collaboration as you help others to discover new music.
2. Have you borrowed a ladder, drill or other tools from a neighbor?  This is also driving the collaborative consumption movement and includes such websites as NeighborGoods to connect people who share.
3. Feeling charitable? How about helping to fight poverty by providing as little as a $25 microloan through Kiva? You could help a farmer in Nicaragua buy fertilizer and supplies for his crops.
4. Doing some spring cleaning or planning on moving? Try the latest peer-to-peer marketplace, Tradepal and list some items to giveaway, sell or even barter for something else.
5. Concerned about the environment? Then join a local bicycle sharing program and start reducing your carbon footprint.
6. Want to brush up on some skills?  Locate a Skillshare in your community to attend free workshops offered by your neighbors, or maybe offer to train others.
7. Interested in purchasing organic and high quality food? Support your local farmers and farmers markets while encouraging sustainable agriculture practices that enhance our environment. 

While I narrowed the list to only a weeks worth of options, I could have listed many more. With 1,460 days until the arrival of the next Leap Year in 2016, imagine how our communities would benefit if we made collaborative consumption a habit for the next four years. 

(Source: tradepal.com)