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A captain steers his ship using a compass. If the compass has become magnetized and no longer points north, the ship is likely to get lost. Likewise, governments use metrics and indicators to adjust policy to try and steer their economies. They depend on these metrics for reliable and meaningful guidance toward the direction that serves the greater good.

Gross domestic product (GDP), which measures the overall level of economic activity, has been the key indicator of growth which has long been considered the goal of economic policy. In recent years though, with multiple crises impinging on our world, many of which were created by ourselves, thoughtful people have suggested that maybe our course needs correction and maybe GDP growth no longer reflects what is most needed in our quest for economic progress. What kind of world are we striving for, and what measures can help us identify whether we are moving closer or further away from that goal?

What is it exactly that we are trying to grow? To what extent does GDP growth measure well-being, and what other metrics might more accurately reflect it?

The fact is, GDP makes no distinction between activities that enhance quality of life and those that diminish it. For example, expenditures related to recovery from a disaster or a crime are included as part of GDP, while all activities that take place within households, as well as actions by volunteers are excluded. It also includes the depletion of natural capital as income.

In 1972, Bhutan made Gross National Happiness its key indicator. Results are compiled by means of a nationwide survey.

Last week, a group of Nobel prize-winning economists met, for the fifth time, in the German town of Lindau near the Austrian and Swiss border. This year’s meeting featured a special guest, German chancellor Andrea Merkel. Joining the notables are young economists from 80 countries, hoping to learn, become inspired, and perhaps reflect deeply on what role their science might play in shaping the future.

Merkel, who has championed austerity, challenged the group. “Why were the economic sciences in the past several years of crisis so badly off the mark in terms of predicting or describing economic reality? Were the underlying economic theories wrong, or were we listening to the wrong people?"

She was referring, of course to the financial crisis of 2008. She also asked the group to consider new economic indicators that might be more useful in defining “the good life,” than GDP or unemployment rate. Germany has established a commission to study “growth, prosperity and the quality of life.”

Also in attendance was Joseph Stiglitz, who was also on the German commission. Stiglitz, a former head of the World Bank, has repeatedly challenged the establishment, raising issues of inequality well before it became fashionable to do so. Stiglitz reminded the group that 95 percent of the income gains in the U.S. went to the top 1 percent over the past few years, while median incomes actually went down. Inequality is strong in Europe as well, but less so than in the U.S.

Alvin Roth, another Nobelist, said that non-economists need to understand that economists don't always have solutions to economic or social problems. "Economics is a very young science,” he said. "We're still learning, the environments change, the challenges change."

The debates continues. What is the best approach? Outside, protestors lined the streets carrying placards decrying the current state of affairs: "Austerity blasts Europe," "Economic growth versus sustainability," and "Is ethical thinking foreign to economics?"

One thing that the economists seemed to agree on is that austerity, a favorite of conservatives both here and in Europe, would not work -- a position that the data seems to support.

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has established a Better Life Index, an interactive tool that was launched in 2012. The index is comprised of 11 categories that include: housing, income, jobs, health, work-life balance, community, safety, governance, education, environment and life satisfaction.

What are your thoughts on economic indicators? What signposts would you like to see put in place to guide us to a better world?

Image credit: Refmo: Flickr Creative Commons

RP Siegel, PE, is an author, inventor and consultant. He has written for numerous publications ranging from Huffington Post to Mechanical Engineering. He and Roger Saillant co-wrote the successful eco-thriller Vapor Trails. RP, who is a regular contributor to Triple Pundit and Justmeans, sees it as his mission to help articulate and clarify the problems and challenges confronting our planet at this time, as well as the steadily emerging list of proposed solutions. His uniquely combined engineering and humanities background help to bring both global perspective and analytical detail to bear on the questions at hand.

Follow RP Siegel on Twitter.

In case you are unaware, Whole Foods is now selling rabbit meat at a limited number of stores across the United States. As far as more sustainable meat goes, rabbit is one of the better options (along with lamb) — especially considering the oft-quoted statistics suggesting the global meat industry is a larger greenhouse gas emitter than the world’s entire transportation sector. For urban and rural dwellers, rabbit is a far more efficient way to score protein than beef — and they will not wake your neighbors at the crack of dawn. Even the environmental blog Grist, which sniffs at many claims about “sustainability,” has sung the praises of raising rabbit meat.

But the thought of rabbit meat grilled, pan-fried or roasted (goes well with parsnips and baby potatoes) does not make everyone’s mouth water. As the Atlantic recently pointed out, New York’s Union Square Whole Foods has attracted a small but passionate crowd that wants more consumers to boycott the retailer for killing rabbits. One of the more emotional arguments against raising rabbits for meats is that, after all, they are pets.

But there is a problem with that argument: Whole Foods is not killing pets, but is sourcing meat from farms that meet what the company describes as rigorous standards.

The idea of eating rabbit easily conjures a bevy of horrors, from the boiled bunny scene in "Fatal Attraction" to the rabbit-skinning demo in Michael Moore’s "Roger and Me." As their popularity as household pets surges, the evidence suggests rabbits come in at No. 3 behind cats and dogs (if you dismiss fish and birds), and their popularity in turn has fostered many sites touting the benefits of keeping rabbits in the household.

And thus presents the moral ambiguity that inspires some to boycott Whole Foods while others roll their eyes. Just as the rabbit processed and sold at the Whole Foods meat counter will not be the bunny from the iconic "Monty Python" skit ... the Indian beef sold at meat counters in Dubai and Abu Dhabi is not the same cow revered by some religious groups in India. The same goes for dog meat found here and there in East Asia. (I don’t necessarily recommend it, as the meat can be tough and stringy.) Appetizing or not, these animals are produced to be eaten, not presented to kids as furry friends.

Unfortunate pet stories, such as one of a Turkish acquaintance of mine whose pet chicken Coco ended up being lunch one day, are indeed distressing to hear. They can trigger a lifelong objection to a certain dish or food. The grey area is whether one’s self-absorbed and self-indulgent views should be forced on others. And to that end, forget the argument about whether we should be eating animals in the first place — that was not the rallying cry of the New Yorkers protesting in Union Square. Are some animals fair game for our plates, while others should not be eaten in any circumstance? And if so, why?

The pull at our collective heartstrings to stop eating rabbits, because some have an emotional bond to their pets, could actually succeed, and Whole Foods should not view this matter as a distraction to be taken lightly. Just look what happened in California in 1998: Despite the fact that the closest most get to a horse is when we watch Season 1 of "Downton Abbey," Californians voted to pass an initiative banning the sale of horsemeat by almost 60 percent.

So pet appeal could doom the growth of rabbit meat in the U.S., which decades ago was once commonly eaten, and the consumption of which was viewed as patriotic during World War II. The scenarios of new factory farms killing rabbits to satisfy a new demand is highly unlikely, considering they have a low immune system and can die easily when under duress. If anything, Whole Foods’ entry into the market will raise awareness of this alternative, healthier meat — and could also provide future opportunities for small farmers who are currently struggling financially. Considering the same amount of resources can provide six pounds of rabbit meat versus one pound of beef, overcoming bunny guilt is a move retailers like Whole Foods, and their customers, should consider making.

Image credit: Wikipedia

Leon Kaye has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past year and is currently spending some time in Uruguay. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter. Other thoughts of his are on his site, greengopost.com.

Despite the 3-year-old drought in the western U.S. and pleas from California Gov. Jerry Brown to conserve 20 percent more water, water use has instead risen by 1 percent in the state. This disappointing outcome illustrates that voluntary reductions have so far proved to be ineffective. Yet a contributing factor could be that consumers are not without good intentions, but rather are lacking the proper tools to do the right thing. As the saying goes, "you can't manage what you don't measure," and traditionally, the tools for consumers to measure their water use have been pretty weak.

Typically, a bill from the water utility arrives in the mailbox showing a three-month history of water usage data in terms of "units," which as a measure is hard for the average householder to visualize. And in any case, the bill doesn't allow an easy assessment as to whether those units used were reasonable or excessive.

Addressing this knowledge gap, Redwood City, California-based startup Dropcountr is about to launch its service to provide tools to both consumers and utilities in a clear and visual format -- which will allow this scarce resource to be better managed. I recently spoke to Dropcountr's CEO, Robb Barnitt, to learn more about its service and how it might prompt more efficient use of water.

First off, Barnitt told me that research by the Public Policy Institute of California shows that consumers are pretty receptive to conservation efforts, with 75 percent of people being in favor of mandatory conservation. I was a little surprised by this -- especially as I don't see 75 percent of suburban homes with dead lawns!

However, this may be explained by the fact that people are simply really bad at estimating their water use. "The average Californian estimates they use half the amount of water than they actually do use" Barnitt explains. "People want to do their part, but don't have the tools and direction to make a contribution."

Dropcountr aims to put the right tools literally in the hands of consumers via a free mobile app for both iOS and Adroid mobile devices. Using a language people understand -- gallons -- the app will be able to provide real-time data on water usage to homeowners, incorporating features such as push notifications when water use is about to cross over into a higher-rate tier, and alerting homeowners when a potential leak is detected. In addition, people will be able to compare their water use with others in similar homes, which as Barnitt points out, taps into a bit of behavioral psychology: "Everyone wants to be better than average, and when they find out they aren't, they are highly motivated."

It's easy to see how such real-time data will allow people to proactively conserve water in a way that their already-out-of-date paper bill cannot. Barnitt told me the consumer focus is paramount, adding that the app incorporates, "simplicity and elegance of design, so that people will use it."

Of course, the system will only work if the water utility is on board and makes the data available to Dropcountr so that the startup can disseminate it to consumers. But the good news is: It won't require significant capital expense on a utility's part to participate. The only requirement is that utilities have meters. Smart meters are best, but as long as an address is metered, it will work with Dropcountr.

Consumers who download the app and are disappointed to find that their utility is not participating can use Dropcountr's "utility poke." The app will geo-locate the customer, determine if the local utility is participating, and if not, users can send an automated e-mail to the utility expressing their interest in using Dropcountr.

Though there is a strong emphasis on tools for the consumer, Dropcountr's customer is actually the utility, Barnitt points out, and the product was designed so that it's compelling for utilities to become partners. Barnitt told me: "The message has sunk in in California that conservation is important. All bets are off as to a continuous supply of water, and cities don't want water to limit development." As such, the hope is that utilities will be keen to take advantage of Dropcountr's services to help them determine methods to better manage their water resources.

Accordingly, Dropcountr's product incorporates a "utility admin. dashboard," which takes the raw usage data and, by doing back-end analytics on the utilities' behalf, will let utilities better monitor water use in a real-time, visual and intuitive way. This allows utilities, for example, to do things such as filter accounts who are high users, or see which addresses are engaged in rebate programs throughout their district.

And equally important: As well as helping with conservation efforts, Dropcountr believes that its tools will allow utilities to establish a better line of communication with their customers -- something that they are not typically good at today. As such, Dropcountr will assist utilities with outreach materials to consumers.

In time, it is hoped that by using the technology and applying their analytics, it will be possible to gather the right kind of data so that a reasonable water budget can be determined at the address level. Today, conservation efforts often ask households to make across-the-board percentage reductions in water use over the prior year -- potentially penalizing already frugal water users. In time, Dropcountr may be able to make water allocations more fair.

The service launches initially in Folsom, California on Sept. 1, and shortly after, Los Altos Hills, California will be online. Dropcountr also hopes to announce several other participants in the coming weeks.

Image used with permission of Dropcountr

Follow me on Twitter: @PhilCovBlog

There will always be debate about whether having more and more of our data on the cloud is really more sustainable in the long run, but one company making a difference in this space is Salesforce.com. On the business side, it is easy to argue this San Francisco-based company has had a beneficial impact on customer relationship management (CRM) systems. In recent years the US$4 billion company has become a major force in the cloud-computing sector, and is frequently touted for both being a truly innovative company as well as for its sustainability agenda. But the company is making a difference in communities and on corporate responsibility issues as well.

To that end, Salesforce.com recently released its latest sustainability report. A lot of what the report discusses is framed over how the company has evolved since its founding 15 years ago, and it can offer its peer companies, in Silicon Valley and beyond, ideas on how to become a more responsible and efficient operation.

The first highlight that must be shared is Salesforce.com’s community-centric approach to philanthropy. Described by the company as a “1-1-1 Model,” the company has long pledged to contribute 1 percent of its product, equity and employees’ time to projects devoted to social change. The results speak for themselves: As of January 2014, the company’s employees have collectively volunteered 580,000 hours to various organizations — and each employee on average is granted approximately six paid days so they can volunteer how they choose. By the company’s count, donations of its technology have led to 20,000 educational and nonprofit organizations using Salesforce.com products. And since 1999, Salesforce.com has distributed over US$55 million in grants for projects ranging from community development to technological jobs training. The ability for employees to give back, and the encouragement to do so, is one reason why the company regularly ranks highly in Fortune’s and Forbes’ lists of the best companies for which to work.

While its further development of cloud computing has accelerated the company’s growth, Salesforce.com has also strived to make its business run more efficiently — including the bricks-and-mortar shells that house the company’s employees. The company has embraced LEED building standards and has committed to such green building initiatives for all future build-outs. The result is a huge increase in the percentage of Salesforce.com’s building portfolio that meets LEED standards — up from 21 percent in FY2013 to 38 percent in FY2014. Meanwhile the company has steadily increased the amount of green energy used to power its data centers — a nudge upward from 17 percent to 19 percent between FY2013 and FY2014. Over the past year Salesforce.com committed to purchasing renewable energy credits (RECS), at a total of 15 million kilowatt hours, to compensate for 15 percent of the company’s overall energy consumption.

Furthermore, the company claims its cloud-computing networks’ architecture provides far more energy and carbon efficiency than other information technology platforms. As a result, while the company’s carbon footprint has increased because of its overall growth, Salesforce.com says its customers’ average emitted carbon per transaction has stayed flat, at 0.07 grams during both FY2013 and FY2014.

For more information on Salesforce.com’s FY2014 report, which includes many anecdotes about the company’s approach towards business and GRI index, the report in full can be viewed here.

Image credit: Salesforce.com

Leon Kaye has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past year and is currently spending some time in Uruguay. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter. Other thoughts of his are on his site, greengopost.com.

Food waste causes a range of environmental problems when left to rot in a landfill. A staggering amount, 1.3 billion tons of food, is wasted globally every year, according to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). The carbon footprint of all that wasted food is estimated at 3.3 billion tons of carbon equivalent.

Wasted food also means wasted water. The amount of water used to produce food that is wasted is equivalent to the annual flow of Russia’s Volga River or three times the volume of Lake Geneva. That is not good at any time -- but becomes particularly poignant during a time when the entire state of California is in its third year of drought. There is also an economic cost to food waste -- $750 billion a year.

On to another problem: Conventional plastic is made from petroleum, a fossil fuel, and contributes to climate change. Bioplastics are made from plant material and are an alternative to conventional plastic. However, the multiple steps needed to produce bioplastics mean more energy is needed. And the crops used to produce them, like corn, are probably better suited for human consumption.

As a solution, a group of scientists at the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Genova, Italy, are working on ways to create bioplastic from food waste. Their results were published earlier this summer in American Chemical Society’s (ACS) journal Macromolecules.

IIT scientists looked at the process for creating cellophane, which includes passing cellulose -- the material that makes up plant cell walls -- through acid and alkali baths. They found out that when cellulose derived from cotton and hemp is dissolved in the common chemical trifluoroacetic acid, it is converted to a form that can be molded into plastic without having to be processed any further.

They tried the same process on vegetable waste products that included rice hulls, cocoa pod husks, spinach and parsley stems obtained from an Italian company that powders vegetables to be used in vegetables drinks and colored pasta. As Ilke Bayer from IIT said, “These are the parts we don't want to eat.” Or as the scientists wrote in their study published in Macromolecules, “Bioplastics with a wide range of mechanical properties were directly obtained from industrially processed edible vegetable and cereal wastes.”

From electronics to food packaging, plastics are so widely used that life as we know it would come to a standstill without them. Perhaps one day bioplastic from food waste will be used in the various applications our 21st century lives depend on.

Image credit: Muu-karhu

Ever wondered which renewable energy source has the quickest payback? Hint: It may be coming from your shower. Or toilet.

But first, a question: Did you take a shower today?

If so, you engaged in an activity that tosses 80 to 90 percent of the energy used to heat the water down the drain. Water heating is among the most energy intensive activities in most homes, and near the top most expensive as well.

For most people, it doesn’t even occur to them that there might be something to do about wasted energy from their morning shower, aside from reducing the amount of water used via a low-flow shower head. Other options available have typically meant fairly complex installations in limited locations -- too many barriers for all but the most motivated people.

Montreal, Canada-based Ecodrain has created a simple solution to the problem: Reuse the heat of the drain water, transferring it back to the water heater, with no mingling of clean and gray water.  Up to 45 percent of the heat is recovered. Water flow is optimized for maximum heat distribution, yet the system has no moving parts, so maintenance is greatly simplified. More than 4,700 iterations in the making, the system -- also called Ecodrain -- is designed to maximize utility while minimizing installation effort and eliminating clogs.

This quick, cheeky explainer video makes the case for heat exchangers entertainingly.

Where Ecodrain excels is in giving people the ability to make an environmentally beneficial choice while saving money, without needing to change their lifestyle or behavior. Such options are key to a broader section of the population making more choices like these.

The potential impact is substantial, and the payoff rapid (17 to 43 percent annually). For one person taking a 10-minute shower daily, Ecodrain saves the annual equivalent of:

• The CO2 emissions of 98.9 gallons of gas


• The greenhouse gas emissions of 728 pounds of waste sent to the dump rather than recycled


• The carbon sequestered in 22.6 tree seedlings grown for 10 years

Beyond the shower and into broader applications

While it’s most known for its home-related uses, Ecodrain is proving malleable to a range of commercial and industrial applications, creating reuse opportunities in unexpected places. Office air conditioning using the toilet, for instance. As Ecodrain puts it:

"Office buildings typically use a lot of cold water for bathrooms. Office buildings also use a lot of air conditioning in the summer. Since heat always naturally travels from hot to cold, air conditioners consume a lot of energy because they pump hot inside air into the even hotter outside air, against its natural tendencies.

"A more natural way to cool is to transfer heat from the hot air into cooler water. Cooling air using fresh water is not allowed in most buildings because it wastes water. However, cool drain water can provide the same low-cost cooling, without wasting any water."

Given that a typical office building uses more than 25 percent of its water supply for cooling towers, according to the EPA, the potential impact is significant. Factor in the fact that California, Texas and Florida are among the biggest users of air conditioning while also facing serious, persistent drought, pursuing options to minimize water use is a must.

When put to use in industrial settings like the Hopital de Rivière Rouge in Quebec, the impact is substantially amplified beyond that of personal-scale installations. Reusing their laundry water heat on one machine will means an estimated 768 times the energy and cost saving potential, as compared to private home use.

While solar and wind may have a higher profile in the renewable energy world, heat exchangers such as Ecodrain offer reliable, substantial, immediate and cost-effective benefits on resource uses ripe for optimization.

Readers: Where has your business been finding unexpected ways to better use its resources? Have you used heat exchangers in your operations? In what way? Tell us about it in the comments section. 

Image courtesy of Ecodrain

Paul Smith is a sustainable business innovator, global trend tracker, the founder of GreenSmith Consulting, and has an MBA in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School in San Francisco. He creates interest in, conversations about, and business for green (and greening) companies, via social media marketing, including Ecodrain.

Fans of Frosted Flakes and Eggo, two Kellogg Co. brands, who are also champions of sustainability have something to cheer about: Kellogg announced new social and environmental commitments earlier this month.

Among other things, the company committed to responsibly source its top 10 ingredients and materials by 2020. The 10 ingredients include corn, wheat, rice, oats, potatoes, sugar (beets and cane), cocoa, palm oil, fruits and honey. A combination of certification and documented continuous improvement will be used. In addition, Kellogg will validate compliance across all of its direct suppliers by 2015.

Kellogg will work with its global palm oil suppliers to source “fully traceable” palm oil, as stated on its website, from certified sources that are “environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable.” It will require its suppliers to comply with Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) principles and criteria by Dec. 31, 2015. The majority of palm oil comes from Indonesia and Malaysia, and palm oil plantations are causing massive rainforest destruction in both countries.

Kellogg will source cocoa, fruits and honey through direct investment where continuous improvement occurs in the areas where those ingredients are grown. The company will engage with its suppliers and local experts and will assess continuous improvement on metrics such as water fertilizer use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and livelihoods. It will source sugarcane from sources that are both responsible and sustainable using Bonsucro measurement standards, a global metric standard for sugarcane.

"This company was founded on the belief that there's an inherent goodness in grains and that continues to hold true today," said John Bryant, Kellogg Co. chairman and CEO, in a statement. "We are committed to nourishing families so they can flourish and thrive.  Our new sustainability goals will help us do this by delivering high-quality grains in a responsible way that enriches the lives of consumers and agricultural growers around the world."

Lightening impact

Kellogg’s environmental commitments include expanding the use of low-carbon energy in plants by 50 percent by 2020. To help achieve its low-carbon energy goals, Kellogg’s Eggo bakery in San Jose, California recently installed fuel cell technology that generates enough renewable energy to produce about half of the facility’s annual electrical consumption. The system also uses less water to generate the power than if it had been supplied by the utility grid. That is a great thing in the midst of California’s three-year drought.

Kellogg is committed to increasing the number of plants sending zero waste to landfill to 30 percent by 2016. About 3 percent of the company’s overall waste ends up in landfills. The other 97 percent is either recycled or sold to livestock operators to be used for animal feed and a small amount -- .01 percent -- is sent for energy recovery.

Other environmental commitments include reducing energy, GHG emissions, water use and packaging:

• Kellogg will reduce energy and GHG emissions by an additional 15 percent from 2015 performance.


• It will implement water reuse projects in 25 percent of its plants by 2020.


• It will further reduce water use by an additional 15 percent from 2015 performance.


• It will ensure that 100 percent of timber-based packaging continues to be either recycled or from certified sustainable sources.

Helping  to make sustainable agriculture a reality

Kellogg is also committed to sustainable agriculture, particularly working with farmers, millers and agricultural suppliers to produce more sustainable agriculture, including adapting and being more resilient to climate change. To that end, the company provides data, maps, tools, agronomic support and training to support improvement in climate adaptation. In addition, Kellogg works with small holder farmers and women farmers.

Image credit: Kellogg Co.

We had such a great Twitter chat with Heineken a few months ago, that we brought the experts together again for Round 2!

Today on Twitter, we learned about what "local sourcing" means to Heineken by hosting a Twitter Chat at the hashtag: #BaBF.

A cornerstone of the Heineken sustainability strategy, Brewing a Better Future (#BaBF), is focused on growing the percentage of locally-sourced ingredients in its raw material supplies. The company wants to operate in a way that improves the quality of life for local individuals and communities; helps drive inclusive growth particularly in economies in Africa; and helps the environment and ensures a consistent supply of raw materials.

CSR Expert Aman Singh and TriplePundit led an hour-long conversation with Heineken’s sustainability leadership team, including:

• Michael Dickstein (MD) - Director, Global Sustainable Development


• Paul Stanger (PS) – Local Sourcing Director, Africa & Middle East Region


• Edwin Zuidema (EZ) - Global Category Director, Raw Materials

Here's the Storify summary of the conversation:

 

About TriplePundit’s Stakeholder Engagement Campaigns: Triple Pundit regularly conducts webinars and Twitter chats with its member organizations and partners. These chats, developed as facilitated conversations, are aimed at taking a pulse of our community, sharing knowledge and inspiring action. Whether the topic is sustainable living, shared value or responsible careers, these interactive sessions not only help our clients push their communication boundaries but also gain valuable feedback, criticism and the attention of an active and engaged community. Learn more by emailing contact@triplepundit.com.

By Cecily Joseph

At Symantec we’ve been undergoing a transformation in all areas of the company, and this includes our approach to philanthropy.

Given the need for a larger pipeline of skilled workers in the technology sector, we have historically invested the majority of our philanthropic dollars in broad efforts that support science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. And while we have built strong partnerships with organizations and are collectively making a difference, we saw potential for even greater impact.

We embarked on a journey to find ways that we could make more meaningful social impact. We ended up developing a shared value signature initiative for Symantec. That is, an initiative that not only goes beyond grant-making to leverage our business assets, but that also contributes to our business bottom line and creates societal benefit.

We began by working with both internal and external stakeholders to define what that shared value program would look like. We created an internal steering committee made up of executives from across the company representing technology, educational services, talent acquisition, marketing, government affairs and regional sales groups.  The signature program strategy was guided by key findings from data and research which showed that cybercrime is the most prevalent online threat with over $388 billion in global costs and that there is a shortage of cybersecurity professional who are needed to protect nations, businesses and individuals with global demand expected to grow to 4.9 million jobs by 2017. In the U.S. alone, there are 300,000 cybersecurity jobs that cannot be filled due to lack of trained professionals. Of this, an estimated 20 percent can be filled by people without college degrees.

As the experts in information protection, Symantec set out to launch a first-of-its-kind program to address the global workforce gap in cybersecurity and dedicate our resources to providing new career opportunities for under-served young adults (i.e. returning military veterans, unemployed and underemployed youth especially amongst people of color) who may not be college-bound. And that program came to life this year as the Symantec Cyber Career Connection (SC3).

Demand for cybersecurity professionals is only expected to increase as the private sector faces unprecedented numbers of data breaches and cybersecurity threats. Symantec’s Internet Security Threat Report has shown that the amount of data breaches grew by 62 percent in 2013 and that approximately 552 million identities were exposed worldwide as a result of data breaches.

As a leader in cybersecurity we know that by focusing our efforts here, we could make an impact in helping to solve the cyber career gap, moving underserved young adults out of low-end jobs and into highly paid and meaningful careers, and make the world a safer place.

See the SC3 website for complete information.

Image credit: Year Up

Cecily Joseph is Vice President Corporate Responsibility & Chief Diversity Officer at Symantec, where she oversees the implementation of community investment efforts including the focus on STEM and cybersecurity education, manages environmental responsibility and climate change policy, works with management to set and deliver on diversity goals, and oversee the communication of the company’s corporate responsibility strategy, goals and activities (learn more here)

We hear a lot from the optimists about how renewable energy is experiencing skyrocketing growth and should displace fossil fuels in no time. Then there are the naysayers who insist solar, wind and other forms of clean energy will never provide the power America needs. The truth is somewhere in between. One fact cannot be disputed however: All new energy capacity generated last month in the U.S. was 100 percent due to renewables.

According to the latest report issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, 405 megawatts of new installed capacity was added to America’s grid: 379 MW from wind, 21 MW from solar and 5 MW from hydropower.

While those statistics for July may seem to be a fluke, the outlook for renewable energy growth in the U.S. is positive overall. And the bulk of new capacity generated this year is clean energy, or at least, cleaner energy. Renewables have accounted for 54 percent of new energy capacity in the U.S. since the beginning of this year. Even the natural gas boom has not competed with the likes of solar, wind and other forms of renewables; natural gas has accounted for 46 percent of that growth in capacity nationwide since Jan. 1. Meanwhile, no new coal or nuclear projects have launched during the first seven months of 2014.

When you look at the country’s current total operating capacity, however, reality still hits. Natural gas is still the preferred means of energy generation with 42 percent of the nation’s capacity; despite the “war on coal,” 28 percent of the country’s power comes from this source; renewables come in at a smidge under 16 percent. Solar still only provides less than 1 percent to the nation’s grid.

Nevertheless, the trend towards a more diverse, and cleaner, energy portfolio continues. As FERC’s most recent report showcases, several notable renewable energy projects have been green-lighted: E.ON’s 218 MW wind project in the Texas Panhandle; another Texas wind farm generating 161 MW of power in Oldham County; Ikea’s 2.4 MW solar project in Maryland; and the 9 MW Indy Motor Speedway solar farm are just a few of the marquee clean energy projects that are incrementally boosting U.S. capacity in renewables.

Despite political inertia, infrastructure challenges and the influence energy companies have on American policy, change is underway — much of it due to companies that realize safe and clean energy is as much about long-term savings as it is about ensuring the planet’s future.

Image credit: Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Leon Kaye has lived in Abu Dhabi for the past year and is currently spending some time in Uruguay. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter. Other thoughts of his are on his site, greengopost.com.