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Water is necessary for life. We can’t survive without water, and we need it to produce food and even energy. But how we manage water is a big problem. Or, as Conservation International puts it, “We need a global transformation of the way the world manages fresh water.”

We live in a world where climate change is changing rainfall patterns and increasing the likelihood of drought. Water conservation is something we all need to make a way of life.

If you live in an area of the U.S. where it rains frequently, like Seattle, it can be hard to see the necessity for conserving water. However, using excess amounts of water can put a strain on sewage and septic systems, which can lead to groundwater contamination. Using less water also reduces energy use and can save you money. For example, if you live in a rural area and have a well, using less water means cutting down on the energy it takes to pump the water from the well.

“People should just recognize that clean water is a limited resource and where we can and should be conserving it and using it efficiently,” Ben H. Chou, policy analyst for the Natural Resources Defense Council's water program, told TriplePundit.

The harsh reality of climate change is that drought can hit at any time, even if you live in an area that receives plenty of rainfall. A number of U.S. regions are facing drought even today. One of those is the Southeast, particularly Alabama and Georgia. A portion of both states are under the worst category, exceptional drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

The Southeast is an area that typically experiences heavy rainfall, about 50 inches annually, but the region saw little rainfall during the fall months of 2016. Dry conditions caused record-breaking wildfires in October and November. Over a 150,000 acres have burned across Appalachia -- showing drought-related wildfires aren't isolated to the Western states. 

What we can learn about water conservation from California

California is heading into its sixth straight year of drought. A vast section of the state is still in the worst category of drought. But the state's response shows what is possible when people take responsibility for their water use and make changes at home and at work.

In April of last year, California instituted mandatory water restrictions in response to the drought. Residents and businesses responded in kind, attaining a statewide reduction of around 20 percent in both June and July, according to the California State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).

The SWRCB cited the state's ongoing water savings as “evidence that statewide focus on urban water conservation can change habits as long as water suppliers continue their ongoing education and dialogue with customers on the importance of conserving and using water as efficiently as possible.”

By September of last year, statewide water savings grew to 26.2 percent, and Gov. Jerry Brown lifted the water restrictions afer El Nino rainfall. Since then, those numbers have taken a small hit but still remain respectable: In September of this year, Californians’ monthly water conservation was 18.3 percent, up from 17.5 percent in August, according to the SWRCB.

Still, the water savings Californians are achieving despite not being under a state mandate proves what can be accomplished. And Californians saved 2.15 million acre-feet of water since June 2015. That's enough to supply over 10 million people or over a quarter of the state’s 38 million population for a year.

“For the most part, you saw Californians step up and reduce water use and use it more efficiently where they can,” Chou said. “So, I think in California, because of how severe the drought has been, there have been a lot of efforts collectively to educate Californians on how we can be more efficient.”

California is the country's most populous state. It is also a state that is water-strapped, even without a drought.

Urban areas and agriculture compete for water use. The agriculture sector in California is massive, as the state produces about half of the nation’s fruits and vegetables. The total California farm output was valued at $50.2 billion in 2013, or about one-tenth the of the total for the whole U.S. The agriculture sector accounts for 40 percent of California's water use, according to the Public Policy Institute of California, while 50 percent is environmental and only 10 percent is urban.

Water for California agriculture comes mostly from surface water or groundwater. Surface water accounts for about 60 percent of the agricultural water supply in an average year, according to a report by the Pacific Institute. The drought has meant less water for farmers, but farmers continue to produce crops. Although harvested acreage in California decreased during the drought, the agricultural revenue is still high. The harvested acreage in 2014 was 6.9 million acres, which is lower than at any time in the last 15 years, and reductions in field crops accounted for most of the reduced acreage. However, bearing fruit and nut acreage continued to increased, particularly for almonds, pistachios and wine grapes.

Although some of those crops were planted prior to the drought, farmers have continued to plant new fruit and nut crops during the drought. And they are doing so with less available surface and groundwater.

All Americans, no matter where they live, need to understand that clean water is a limited and precious resource. It is one that we should never take for granted. And Californians prove we can conserve it if make an intentional effort. Let's not wait for drought to strike to begin taking action. 

Image credit: Flickr/Steve Johnson

By Erin Simon

Today, 7.3 billion people consume 1.5 times what the Earth’s natural resources can supply. By 2050, the world’s population will exceed 9 billion, and the demand for food will double. Feeding this growing population will create a tremendous burden on a stressed food production system.

We are already seeing this trend in action, as a growing global middle class is increasing the demand for food. No place is this more evident than China, where a burgeoning middle class is consuming more food, especially meat.

PwC reports that in 2011, the average Chinese person consumed more calories per day than the average Malaysian, Thai, Indonesian, Filipino, Vietnamese and even Japanese person and is quickly nearing South Korean, British and American levels. China is, in many ways, a harbinger of things to come. In the next two decades, the country will consume nearly a quarter of all chicken produced in the world. It already has the second largest poultry industry in the world, producing nearly 13 million metric tons in 2013.

Eating so much chicken takes its toll on the environment. It involves a lot of natural resources, including feed, water and energy, and also generates significant amounts of waste and greenhouse gases. To produce one chicken, it takes 10 days’ worth of drinking water, more than eight pounds of feed, and enough energy to power a television for 18 hours.

Since imports feed much of China, the nation’s consumption affects some of the world’s most endangered regions, including the Amazon, Central Africa and Central Asia, which are threatened by agricultural expansion.

Soy production, in particular, has significant environmental impacts. The soy fed to Chinese poultry is grown in the United States, Brazil and other parts of South America, where it’s linked to deforestation of the Amazon as well as the loss of grasslands and woodlands such as the Cerrado and Chaco regions. Feed crop expansion is also encroaching on the Northern Great Plains of the U.S. and Canada, which are home to bison, foxes and ferrets, not to mention thousands of ranchers.

It is essential for all the actors across the value chain – from farmers, factory owners, retailers and consumers – to understand that they have a role to play in conserving our natural resources. Limiting food waste is a critical step that the food industry and consumers alike can take to reduce the use of natural resources needed to produce food. Despite resource-intensive production, about 20 percent of meat is never consumed. It is lost or wasted within the supply chain or in restaurants and home kitchens.

One way to reduce the loss and waste of meat is to prolong its shelf life. This means improving supply chains that keep meat cold during storage and distribution. It also entails improving packaging at retail. Today in China, most chicken is sold in so-called wet markets where it is not packaged and, as a result, can spoil faster.

By reducing waste, we can increase food security and conserve natural resources, and alleviate the pressure on the global food production system both within China and the fragile ecosystems where feed is sourced. As the world’s most populous country with a rapidly expanding middle class, China has the potential to show the rest of the world how to create a more sustainable food future. The lessons we learn from China can eventually be implemented globally so that our global food system can be ready to handle the growing population before us.

World Wildlife Fund and Sealed Air are collaborating to minimize the environmental footprint of poultry and to implement best practices for a sustainable supply chain that addresses food safety, packaging, storage, and distribution of poultry products in China for retail and food service applications.

Erin Simon is Deputy Director of Packaging and Material Science for the World Wildlife Fund. Through her efforts, she works with business and industry to help them make informed, sustainable material choices for their products and packaging. Her work focuses on the major commodities that go into packaging, which come in many different forms and materials, and how to integrate sustainability into the decisions and trade-offs that must be evaluated across a product’s lifecycle.

Image credit: Flickr/gill_penney

By Rebecca Menes

At the nexus between property developers and today’s socially-conscious investors stands an increasingly persuasive investment choice. Called a green property fund or impact fund, it’s an influential way for investment managers in emerging markets to match developers with those who aspire to both profits and positive change.

The concept is simple: Fundraise from third-party clients to ensure developers in urbanizing markets have the capital to build green. Then keep a tight hold on technical criteria to ensure peak building performance, which will benefit both occupants and the environment while adding caché to developers’ brands. It’s a virtuous alternative to building a conventional product and then selling high, with gains mostly derived from improved land value.

The secret to green property funds

With a property or impact fund, a pool of institutional and private investors combine their capital, then directly or indirectly finance projects. A direct investment could be a joint venture with a developer, and an indirect investment could be an equity stake in shares of a company that develops properties. JVs allow investment managers with green know-how a unique selling proposition, as their competencies aren’t readily available on the market. Investment managers also have quality control of the final product, which narrows project risk.

This formula of the investment manager absorbing the costs of technical oversight through in-house expertise is the secret of success for green funds. There is little additional cost for a green spec when the initial design is adapted to meet requirements, particularly when the investment manager negotiates in bulk with contractors. This keeps the cost of going green negligible.

When it comes time to make a profit, the objective of the fund determines the exit strategy. Income-producing funds might raise capital, build a green field project, and then list the property for 10 years. Shorter-term funds might focus on a for-sale product with a higher profit upon exit. The sweet spot is when market prices are increasing due to greater demand than supply, marking the ideal moment for liquidation. Investors can exit and realize their returns, or they might restructure and roll over the equity into a future phase, when new investors are brought in.

A shared belief in resource efficiency

According to Asia-based investment company Diener Syz with offices in Jakarta and Shanghai, there is a link between real estate returns and GDP growth. With the balance of macro-economic power shifting from the West to the East, that pushes Swiss pension fund investors to think outside their own country, which is currently experiencing negative interest rates.

Alex Buechi, a partner and head of ASEAN Markets for Diener Syz, is ready to meet his investors’ needs with carefully vetted projects from Indonesian developers who share his belief in the profitability of resource-efficient buildings (one of them pictured above).

“Once we have understood the developer’s intention, it’s like a marriage,” Buechi said. “Even though the developer can get financing elsewhere, there’s loyalty, as we share the same mindset. We both understand that green must be intrinsic and not a gimmick. In turn it is understood that my firm won’t compete with the developer through overlapping activities.”

Fewer headaches, higher rewards

Green property funds have existed for less than a dozen years, and there is little empirical evidence of strong capital gains, particularly when firms are quiet about their success. However internal returns of between 20 to 30 percent are not uncommon, proving that difficult markets can be resilient and reap high rewards.

While often perceived from outsiders as risky, increasing land value in emerging markets makes property investments relatively safe as the underlying asset is the acquired land. Complexities such as the percent of ownership allowed by foreigners or land ownership eventually reverting back to the government are handled by the investment manager, ensuring investors don’t take on headaches they can’t handle.

Voices from Africa

One of the most difficult markets is commodity-dependent West Africa, where RMB Westport was created in response to the shortage of A-grade assets. The firm is a hybrid between an equity financier and an experienced developer, born from the realization that the best model for challenging markets is to combine balance sheet skills with local development expertise.

“The process is a big part of the risk,” said Alan Wilson, CFO of RMB Westport. “Being directly involved with our hands firmly on the wheel is a key factor in how we deliver good returns on our properties in difficult markets. That’s how we control quality, lower the risk profile, and help to solve the demand and supply mismatch.”

What is most important to socially-conscious investment fund managers is absolute certainty that the project benefits the end user, who is often the low-to-middle income homeowner. Willem Odendaal, a technical specialist at South Africa’s International Housing Solutions (IHS) who lives by the credo “you can’t manage what you can’t measure,” has installed smart meters in affordable green homes to monitor electricity and water consumption, and provides education to tenants to ensure performance as projected.

IHS is also undertaking a test by pitting a 200-unit green development against a similarly-sized non-green development next door. Positive results from the test will prove to the banking industry that green mortgages should be offered to qualifying homeowners. IHS plans to build 14,000 rentals and 6,000 for-sale units in the near future, all of them affordable and with resource-efficient design.

South Africa’s Old Mutual Alternative Investments (OMAI), with US$4 billion in assets under management and ambitions to expand elsewhere in Africa, takes a head-and-heart approach through funds that combine bottom line returns with a development agenda. They are passionate about “non-obvious” opportunities where there is a serious gap in social infrastructure, such as affordable housing and quality schools.

“More and more investment firms are being held accountable,” said Lenore Cairncross, an investment professional for Development Impact Funds at OMAI. “Their clients want to know if their money is positively impacting society as a whole. When they look at competing investments, which will they choose? If the returns are close, they’ll choose the sustainable one.”

A bright future for green funds

Alex Buechi said the fact that Swiss high-net individuals and pension fund managers enjoy the impact of their Asian green building investments shows promise for the space to become more crowded in the future. With increased regulatory pressures and gains in market sophistication, the field of socially responsible development is bound to attract more attention.

“I hope there will be more competition in our fund environment,” he said. “Where there is no competition there is no market. It’s about innovation at the end of the day. And we will never stop reinventing ourselves.”

Images courtesy of IFC

Rebecca Menes is the Associate Operations Officer for IFC’s EDGE green buildings certification program. International Housing Solutions, Old Mutual Alternative Investments, and RMB Westport are using IFC’s EDGE for their property funds to show compliance, taking a metrics-driven approach to lower risk and increase profitability and brand value for developers while yielding outstanding returns for their clients. Diener Syz has its own eco-tool for evaluating green investments. For more information, email edge@ifc.org.

By Roger Aitken — Finland’s leading provider of financial services in the country to local government and public housing sectors, Municipality Finance (MuniFin), opened trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) to mark the listing of its first ever green bond, a $500 million (m) benchmark-sized issuance, on the 200-year old exchange.

 The 5-year bond carrying a 1.48% annual yield listed on the LSE’s Green Bond Segment, which launched last year as a world first to provide a new range of green fixed-income funding options for issuers and investors. The issue met with high global investor support and was oversubscribed within a few hours of the launch.

 MuniFin, which has an ownership structure that includes the government of Finland, Finnish municipalities and public sector pension fund Keva, plans to use the proceeds from the bond to invest in projects promoting the transition to low carbon and climate resilient growth across Finland.

 Eligible projects are identified in MuniFin’s Green Framework, which was drafted in accordance with the Green Bond Principles, a set of guidelines framing the issuance of green bonds and the Centre for International Climate and Environmental Research, Oslo and in collaboration with the Stockholm Environment Institute.

Pekka Averio, President and CEO, MuniFin, together with representatives including Hannele Pokka, Permanent Secretary at the Finnish Ministry of Environment, the Finnish embassy and joint lead banks, attended the opening of trading at the exchange to mark the new listing.

MuniFin’s Averio commenting said: “Most of our lending portfolio consists of investments that could be categorised as socially or environmentally responsible. As we are one of the most important credit institutions in Finland, we feel that we have a central role in raising environmental awareness in the Finnish public sector and encouraging our customers to make more environmentally friendly investments.”

He added: “Our aim is to support this change by offering a small margin discount for projects that are approved green financing. We have a long history with the London Stock Exchange in connection with our previous bond issues.”

Categories for investment consideration by MuniFin, which holds long-term credit ratings of ‘Aaa’ from Moody’s and ‘AA+’ from Standard & Poor’s, include renewable energy, public transport, sustainable buildings, water and wastewater management, energy efficiency and environmental management.

With the total value of the green projects funded by MuniFin so far being c.€400m, several other investments are being considered for funding.

Nikhil Rathi, Director of International Development at LSE Group, a member of the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange initiative, remarked: “Finland’s first ever green bond has the potential to unlock and promote green financing across the country.”

Already the exchange’s green bond platform is a “recognised world leader” according to Rathi in green and sustainable finance, facilitating international investment from India to China and Japan.

“We believe there is an opportunity to be the funding partner of choice for the wider Nordic region,” he added. “There is an undeniable shift in momentum in green and sustainable financing across the world and the LSE is uniquely placed…to support issuers and inventors in this green funding revolution.”

To date, 37 green bonds have been issued by international institutions, municipalities and corporates that are listed on LSE in seven currencies that have raised over $9.3 billion (bn). Eleven new green bonds in six different currencies have raised c.$3.6bn alone in 2016.

For more information on Municipality Finance see www.munifin.fi

By Charlotte West — Business is increasingly required to play a role in society which goes beyond maximising stakeholder profit. So it’s perhaps no surprise that 'purpose’ is gaining traction as a way for business to forge a different, more meaningful role in society.  

Some might dismiss purpose as yet another business buzzword. And that might be the case if this was simply about expensive branding exercise. But there’s an emerging and growing movement of businesses who are starting to bake purpose into their commercial activities. With research suggesting customers spend 46% more with purpose driven brands1, there’s evidence that these brands are thriving commercially through doing good' 

But the biggest challenge is how to start. Despite the buzz, there is very little equipping people within business to develop brands whose values align with how their business operates. Purpose isn’t a tick box exercise that can be tackled in a day. I speak to companies regularly who are struggling to turn it into reality. 

That’s why Business in the Community have launched a Purpose Toolkit to help businesses think differently about how to have a higher purpose and act on this thinking. It’s based on a series of focus groups with companies from across our membership and is packed with case studies and practical guidance to help move purpose from brand exercise to business behaviour. The guide is available free online.  

As a taster here are my 9 top tips: 

1) Lead by example 

A leader who believes in purpose, lives the values and embeds them in organisational strategy is crucial. Many companies struggle to balance profits with values. An effective leader will help the organisation understand that these concerns are not contradictory – but when combined can build a business that wins for both society and the bottom line. 

2) Reward the right things  

Create a company culture in which day-to-day commercial decisions across the business (from supplier recruitment to HR’s hiring strategy) are driven by purpose. Actively rewarding and recognising decisions that reflect the brand values is a practical way to show how seriously purpose is taken. 

3) Be a problem solver  

Products and services are the ultimate vehicle to help brands tackle societal problems. Brands should be achieving growing revenue from purpose-driven products by making sure that product development is contributing towards the overall vision. For some brands this could require moving away from existing products that may be contrary to its purpose, and creating new product lines. 

4) Be yourself  

If a business claims to be delivering on a social purpose which contradicts what the public perceive it stands for, efforts will quickly fall flat. Authenticity is essential and can help build genuine trust between a business and its customers. To avoid ‘purpose wash’ there must be a clear link between the values of the brand, the purpose and how that brand tells this story in a coherent way. 

5) The devil’s in the detail 

No company is perfect and things will always go wrong in business. The key is how business measures and manages these risks. Thoroughly assessing your organisation’s impact and taking steps to address social and environmental risks will ensure that your commitment to be a purpose led business isn’t undermined by failings elsewhere.   

6) Good relations 

The leading purpose-led brands have a relationship with their customers that goes beyond the transactional. These relationships are characterised by a deep emotional connection between brand, customer values and the company’s vison. Unilever’s Dove has become a campaigning brand, synonymous with a meaningful public debate around beauty, self-esteem and confidence. 

7) Making a difference 

No one is going to believe your purposeful claims if you can’t evidence the positive impact you are having against the issues that matter to your brand. Equally, purpose isn’t philanthropy - it’s about the win-win of achieving commercial gain while making a positive impact on society, so evidence of how purpose is contributing to growth is needed to engage stakeholders. 

8) Don’t be an island  

In this complex world there are very few problems that can be solved by a single company working alone. Business that work with others – be this other business, NGO’s or government - can increase the reach of their impact and further their ability to achieve on their purpose goals. For example, by joining forces with leading science, education and philanthropic organisations to create The World Community Grid, IBM has enabled humanitarian research to be conducted quicker and cheaper than ever before. 

9) From shop floor to boardroom  

Purpose will only be a reality if all employees see themselves as part owners of the purpose. The brands who get this right empower employees to be ‘intrapreneurs’, contributing creative ideas on how the brand delivers its purpose. Barclays is a great example of this. It operates a social innovation facility whereby employees suggest new services that directly address social challenges.  

Business in the Community’s Purpose Toolkit is available free at www.bitc.org.uk/purposetoolkit  

Charlotte West is Marketplace Director, Business in the Community. 

The greater New York City area is home to over 20 million people, or about 1 out of 16 U.S. citizens. And considering the economic opportunities and way of life this area that stretches as far as Connecticut to even Pennsylvania offers, the greater New York metro can only expect more future growth.

But climate change risks, especially sea-level rise, leave the Big Apple and its surrounding communities vulnerable in the coming decades. A recent study issued by the Regional Plan Association (RPA), which advocates for improved economic health and environmental sustainability in the wider metropolitan area, suggests that local leaders and urban planners need to do far more to mitigate the threats of sea-level rise than what is now under development.

Four years after Hurricane Sandy left billions of dollars in damages, the region has already been far more proactive than other metropolitan areas at risk of flooding due to climate change. But between an aging infrastructure, natural subsidence and, of course, rising seas, much of the area will be lost -- leaving a huge impact on citizens and the region’s economy.

The RPA’s report assessed the risks the region could experience in scenarios that include levels of one, three and six feet of sea-level rise.

At one foot of sea-level rise, larger cracks start to appear in New York City’s infrastructure, according to RTA's projections. Areas such as Staten Island’s eastern shore, Jamaica Bay and Flushing Bay will suffer the most impact from regular flooding. The region’s transportation will deal with constant nuisances, such as LaGuardia Airport experiencing periodic closings due to intermittent flooding. High-density coastal communities in New Jersey tend to have better infrastructure and may be unscathed, but a few low-lying towns and the Teterboro Airport could begin to endure regular flooding.

Under a three-foot scenario, the region’s landscape begins to see more dramatic change. Connecticut communities such as Stamford, Bridgeport and New Haven start to lose shoreline real estate. The bustling Hoboken rail terminal will flood often, and many freight lines and distribution centers in the Meadowlands area will be lost -- which would be a significant blow to the regional economy. As many as 40,000 Long Island residents could see their homes uninhabitable. One of LaGuardia’s runways will be unusable; subways to coastal neighborhoods such as Howard Beach and the Rockaways will most likely be knocked out.

Naturally, at a sea-level rise of six feet, New York City’s landscape would witness a dramatic change. The city’s infrastructure, as it now stands, will not be resilient enough to prevent 200,000 New Yorkers from losing their homes. Industrial areas such as the Brooklyn Navy Yard and Sunset Park will be inundated. And JFK Airport, while not completely damaged to the degree as what would occur at LaGuardia, would have no choice but to close in the event of storm surges. Meanwhile, 165,000 Long Island residents would find themselves displaced, the Hudson River would take over areas long lost to land reclamation, and many of the iconic Jersey Shore resort communities that fuel the state’s tourism economy would disappear.

This dystopian future, however, could be avoided – and smart planning could also reduce the multibillion-dollar losses insurance companies would suffer under these scenarios.

The first priority, say the RPA authors, is to implement the climate commitments made last year in Paris. Planning for the worst scenarios, even those that will not happen until most of us are gone, needs to start now – or, in reality, yesterday. Decisions such as zoning updates, open-space protection plans and projects that could stem the threat of sea-level rise must be a leading conversation among local leaders and city planners now.

More data modeling, which could help insurance companies pinpoint the greatest risks, would also help.

Of course, all this planning would require generous funding for both short- and long-term risks. And in a nod acknowledging that those who live near the shoreline are not just the wealthy, the RPA’s researchers insist the poorest and most vulnerable are also accounted for, as they will have fewer work and economic options in what will most likely become a more volatile world.

Image credit: MTA/Flickr

In this busy Internet shopping season, if you happen to live in Portland, Oregon, it’s possible your packages and parcels from online retailers will be delivered by electric tricycle.

On Nov. 21, UPS launched an e-bike prototype in the city, which the company says could become a component of its delivery capabilities in some other cities across the country as well.

The American roll-out of electronically-assisted tricycle deliveries by UPS follows a successful deployment in the city of Hamburg, Germany, where the delivery company piloted the concept back in 2012. We spoke to Mike Britt, a director within UPS’s automotive team, to find out more about the fledgling operation in Portland.

Why electric tricycles?

Britt explained the original objective for the pilot program in Hamburg was based solely on congestion mitigation. “The city of Hamburg didn’t want any trucks in the city during the business day,” he told us, and since many cities in the U.S. are similarly afflicted with high traffic volumes, the company felt the e-bike concept would work equally well in busy American cities .

Portland was selected for the prototype in the U.S. because, as well as being a bicycle-friendly city, its hilly terrain and fairly long delivery routes provides a rigorous environment to test the engineering.

The Portland trike

Though similar to the European variant, the vehicle UPS is using on this side of the Atlantic has been designed specifically for the U.S. market.

For the Portland version of the electric tricycle, UPS partnered with specialty manufacturer Truck Trike; an Oregon based company which engineered the vehicle according to UPS’s specifications. Montana-based Coaster Pedicab will also develop electric tricycles for the company.

The American-designed tricycle is both more powerful and larger than its European cousin deployed in Hamburg. Instead of one 250-watt motor, the Portland version uses two motors for a combined 500 watts of power, while the cargo box provides 108 cubic feet of carrying capacity compared with 70 cubic feet in Europe, Britt explained.

The vehicle runs on either full electric propulsion, via lithium-ion batteries, or in combination with pedal assistance, though Britt explains, “We encourage drivers to use as much muscle propulsion as possible.”

Happily for UPS, a little pedaling on the job has proved to be a popular attraction for prospective drivers. Britt says employees signing up to drive the e-bike “are somewhat of an industrial athlete class” and, as well as getting their deliveries done, are eager to get a measure of health and fitness on the side.

The vehicle will be deployed to cover delivery routes of up to 15 miles a day. And if human effort falters, the electric motors are designed to propel the rig at speeds of up to 10 miles an hour -- though driving down hills or under pedal assistance, the tricycle can move along faster than that.

More alternative vehicles to follow

We asked whether UPS had any security concerns with delivery by tricycle, and Britt said the company's security team evaluated this issue carefully. The cargo box is secured with heavy-duty bolts similar to those used on any other delivery vehicle. And if anyone tries to pedal off on one, they will find electricity cut off to the motors -- resulting in anything other than a fast getaway.

The company has not targeted fuel savings by way of implementing the pilot in Portland, though Britt says: “Within a year's time, within our sustainability report, we’ll talk about how much fuel we would have used with conventional means rather than by bicycle.”

In the meantime, as well as the electric tricycle deployed in Portland, UPS plans to roll out three more in other American cities in the next few weeks. This is in addition to six electric-assist tricycles currently in service with UPS in Europe.

Putting pedal-power back into the delivery process is somewhat of a return to the company’s roots. Early on in UPS’s 109-year history, it operated as a bike messenger company. And, according to a company press release, “The bicycle may be making a comeback as we navigate through crowded urban areas and continue our focus on environmental sustainability.”

Photo courtesy of UPS

Editor's Note: The following is a post from Remake that follows up our recent #ForcedFashion Twitter chat with the Freedom Fund and C&A Foundation. 

By Remake Staff

The story of forced labor in our fashion is old and often accomplished in subtle ways, such as intimidation or paying workers next to nothing.

Meet Char Wong, a woman who works in a subcontracting factory in Cambodia, the most shadowy part of the fashion supply chain, where she sews for H&M, Zara and Tommy Hilfiger:

Ninety-seven percent of our clothes are made overseas, and the traceability, transparency and accountability behind our fashion is more complex than other industries like food. The power of investigative journalists and storytellers play an important role in shining a light on the true cost of our fast fashion. But how can we help change these stories, for good?

At Remake, we are mobilizing consumers to move beyond boycotts and vote with their wallets. We are creating a groundswell of demand to buy better in three simple but powerful ways:

1. Humanize her

We seek to release garment makers from mainstream media’s current depiction as helpless faraway victims. Online and on campus we help millennial consumers come face to face with the women who make our clothes in a more textured way.

Our aim is to help young people understand that this garment maker's hopes and dreams are no different to ours. We share her story of resilience and hope for a better future as a way to build empathy and ignite the next generation of conscious consumers.

 

2. Buy better, easier

We believe it is unrealistic to expect busy consumers to make sense of the proliferation of certifications, labels and greenwashing claims. Try our Instagram and buy better page to discover a stylish curation of truly ethical brands who are committed to the wellbeing of people and our planet.

3. Making fast fashion uncool

Exposing consumers to the human rights abuses behind our fashion is, culturally, a process of making fast fashion uncool: It’s bad for the maker; it hurts the planet; and, in the longterm, it's more expensive for you.

“I decided to challenge myself to shop ethically for one year. What began as a self-imposed styling test has now become a new way of life: It’s been passion-igniting, and has seeped into other areas of my life. I’ve also saved at least a few thousand dollars, and my wardrobe has never looked better,” says Laura Jones, founder of The L&J Files, a sustainable fashion blog.

Consumer activism is an important lever to removing the forced labor behind our clothes. We’re mobilizing millennials to lead the conversation on going back to buying fewer better things. Together we #remakeourworld.

Image courtesy of Remake