World Water Week Raises Awareness through Gamification

A new game designed to promote sustainable water resources management has been released for World Water Week. The game is called Aqua Republica and was created through a partnership between UNEP and DHI along with the collaboration of a number of others.

The game not only raises water awareness it is designed to help build capacity in some of the most critical issues in water resources management.

In this game participants make decisions about water management and in the process they learn about the connectivity and importance of water resources, as well as the need for careful management.

While the world of Aqua Republica is fictitious, the challenges of sustainably managing a limited supply of water resources in a situation of growing demand between multiple users and uses are very much based on real life scenarios.

Report on Global Emissions Reduction

A report titled "The Critical Decade: Global Action Building on Climate Change," presents an overview of progress in international action on climate change since August 2012, The report concludes that global momentum to tackle climate change is growing with every major economy setting in place policies to drive down emissions and increase renewable energy investment and renewable energy.

Although there has been significant progress (particularly from the US and China) global emissions keep rising. While coal plants in the US are on the decline, they are on the increase in the developing world. Even China is substantially slowing its building of new coal power plants while radically increasing their dependence on renewable energy.

Here are some of the key findings in the report:

Report on Climate Change Efforts in the US and China

A new report titled "The Critical Decade: Global Action Building on Climate Change," presents an overview of progress in international action on climate change since August 2012, with a particular focus on China and the US. Since the Climate Commission’s international report in August 2012 there has been significant progress in many countries across the globe.

The US and China combined represent more than a third (37%) of global emissions. Both nations are on track to meet their international commitments to tackle climate change and in April they signed an agreement to work together on the pressing issues associated with climate change.

The report indicates that the US and China are starting to move into leadership positions on greenhouse gas reductions, and this could re-energize global efforts and generate momentum to tackle climate change. Efforts are required over and above the 2009 agreement in which the nations agreed on a voluntary goal of limiting global warming to 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit over pre-industrial temperature levels.

A New Environmental Movement Breeds Hope for the Future

Something is happening to the environmental movement that is giving us reason to hope that we may succeed in changing our current trajectory. On Sunday February 17th, 35,000 people came together to demand action in the face of a growing climate crisis. Part of this burgeoning climate activism is attributable to people's first hand exposure to extreme weather. Droughts, hurricanes, snowstorms and wildfires are forcing people to recognize that our climate is changing and they are increasingly coming to the understanding that we must act now.

Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner John Deans Talks Campaign Strategy

In an interview with Brandchannel, Greenpeace Toxics Campaigner John Deans made it abundantly clear that there is a new highly effective approach that is taking businesses to task for their irresponsible practices. These Greenpeace campaigns are putting the extraordinary power of social media to work for the environment.

“We’re not your grandfather’s Greenpeace anymore," Deans told Brandchannel. "We’re part of a new, building movement with a new set of people who are social media denizens. Brands see it’s not going away and that Greenpeace is communicating directly with their customers."

Deans remarked about how quickly social media messages can be disseminated, “Social media tools have let Greenpeace latch on to the viral nature of online society – and find where people are in order to spark their interest.”

Greenpeace's Consumer Powered Pressure Campaigns

Greenpeace is waging very effective pressure campaigns that reach out directly to customers. Greenpeace encourages their supporters to take direct action and voice their concerns. Greenpeace has come a long way from their beginnings in the early 70s; in addition to protests and demonstrations, they are now using digital technologies to widely disseminate their message. Social media figures prominently in the Greenpeace strategy. These Greenpeace campaigns co-opt the brand message of the companies they are targeting.

Waitrose Bows to Greenpeace Pressure

In less than 2 weeks Greenpeace succeeded in getting UK supermarket Waitrose to rethink its partnership with Shell. The Greenpeace campaign targeted Waitros' stores in Shell gas stations because of the oil company’s plans to drill in the Arctic. This decision means Waitrose has shelved plans to expand on the number of  stores in Shell gas stations. Waitrose currently has two pilot stores and had planned on adding more in 2013. Yet again this underscores the power of consumer driven campaigns to influence the business practices of major brands.

Greenpeace's Consumer Powered Pressure Campaign Targets Levi's (Video)

Greenpeace activists in over 20 countries took to the streets, joined by over 175,000 people online, to demand Levi's make fashion without pollution. Despite hazardous chemicals being found in Levi's clothing items, and investigations revealing that Levi's suppliers in Mexico and elsewhere are releasing toxic chemicals into public waterways.

ZARA Mannequins Revolt! (Video)

As part of Greenpeace's global "Detox" campaign, more than 700 people, in over 80 cities, in 20 countries around the world protested, staged street theatre and conducted "mannequin" walk-outs to demand ZARA commit to eliminating the use of all hazardous chemicals throughout its supply chain. The participants, from Bangkok to Buenas Aires, also called on ZARA store managers to forward Greenpeace's Detox demands to their headquarters, after new research found traces of hazardous chemicals in ZARA clothing items, some of which can break down in the environment to become hormone-disrupting or even cancer-causing substances.

Why a Dozen Clothing Giants Have Bowed to Greenpeace

There are powerful financial incentives that drive corporations to agree to the demands of organizations like Greenpeace. The customers moral concerns can undermine sales and thus it is very directly impacts the bottom line. A dozen clothing brands have now accepted Greenpeace demands to detox and before this there were campaigns directed against KFC, Shell, Mattel and Lego. Through its “Toxic Threads: Under Wraps” report, Greenpeace spurred a global movement that is succeeding in detoxing some of the major players in the clothing industry.

At least twelve clothing companies have decided to heed Greenpeace demands and reduce their environmental impacts including Mango, Esprit, Nike, H&M, Adidas, Puma, M&S, C&A, Li-Ning, Zara and now Levi’s.

Levi's Bows to Greenpeace Pressure

After a mere 8 days of pressure from Greenpeace, Levi's has agreed to become more environmentally responsible. Greenpeace alleged that Levi’s suppliers are some of the worst water polluters in the Mexican textile industry. The denim behemoth has said it will stop polluting Mexico's rivers and the company further agreed to eliminate the release of all hazardous chemicals in its manufacturing process by 2020.

There have been a number of Greenpeace actions that have encouraged Levi's change of heart. Hundreds protested outside Levi’s shop fronts in 80 cities around the world and in one demonstration at Levi's headquarters in Mexico, Protesters covered the area in foam to symbolize the toxic effluents that Levi's released into the country's rivers.

State of Green Business 2012

The fifth annual edition of the State of Green Business report continues efforts to measure the environmental impacts of the emerging green economy. In addition to documenting what progress companies are making -- if any -- in improving their environmental performance, they track larger trends that will affect corporate America in 2012.

 Click here to read the stories and download the report.

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TerraCycle Facebook Game App: Upcycling & Recycling

An initiative from TerraCycle incorporates recycling into a game. In 2011 TerraCycle, the company which turns trash into eco-products, launched Trash Tycoon, a Facebook game that teaches players to upcycle. Instead of planting crops or building cities as in FarmVille or CityVille, in Trash Tycoon the player cleans houses and town buildings such as a library, a school and a town hall. Players also build factories, which upcycle and recycle the collected trash and include a worm farm, glass smelter, plastic extruder, injection molder, paper recycler and greenhouse.

Canada's Best and Worst Green Cities

According to a 2011 index sponsored by Siemens, Vancouver is the greenest city in Canada and Montreal is the least green. The index measured and rated the environmental performance of 27 cities in the US and Canada in nine categories: CO2, energy, land use, buildings, transport, water, waste, air and environmental governance. The index was a project run by the Economist Intelligence Unit, an in-house research unit of the British magazine The Economist. Cities were selected independently rather than through requests from city governments to be included. A panel of global experts in urban environmental sustainability advised the unit in developing methodology for the index.

Mobile Gaming Promoting Sustainability and Social Responsibility at Events (White Paper)

An interactive mobile game called “Get Your Green On!” was created for use at 2011 Event Camp Vancouver—an idea-generating gathering for event professionals. The game enhanced attendee engagement and collaboration, while improving their understanding of sustainability and social responsibility issues.

Game Change Rio: An Interactive Game based on System Dynamics

Game Change Rio is a great way to understand the interconnected complexities facing our planet today. Based on a huge array of real-life data, players can explore the countless ways we can ruin our world or save the planet. Once more of us begin to understand the issues involved, we have a better chance of changing the game.

Calendar of Environmental Events

Here are more than 50 environmental events that take place throughout the course of the year. Many of these events are meant to raise awareness while others encourage tangible actions in support of the environment. These events run the gamut from the World Kitchen Garden Day (August 26th) to the crucially important U.N. sponsored COP process (end of November and the beginning of December) meant to forge an internationally binding treaty that is necessary to save our planet from runaway climate change. 

10. Question and Answers Part Two (Video): Sustainable Business Practices Part 10/10

This short video addresses additional questions from audience members about sustainable business practices. This video is part ten of a ten part series on sustainability. It is a step-by-step guide to sustainability planning and serves as a business guide to sustainability. The speakers include Alan AtKisson and Marsha Willard who tackle the issues faced by organizations attempting to implement sustainable practices, and explore the practical experiences of consulting firms AXIS Performance Advisors and The AtKisson Group in an international context.

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