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Submitted by Megan Wild

Business travel is necessary because it’s how many companies serve their clients. The ability to visit client locations represents the ability to show up, build relationships and deliver products on all accounts.

Yet, sustainability is a growing concern, as business travel itself correlates strongly to high degrees of greenhouse emissions. More corporations are tracking their environmental footprints. The Global Business Travel Association (GBTA) conducted a study surveying around 300 European and U.S. travel managers to understand how they perceive the importance of sustainability initiatives and their impact:

• 40 percent of European and American corporations have witnessed measurable benefits of sustainability initiatives with a better public image, more productive and efficient business processes and improved employee morale.

• For companies that track their environmental footprint, almost all measure air travel activity, with 92 percent in the U.S. and 96 percent across Europe looking at these numbers.

• 44 percent of European companies believe the impact of rail suppliers and car rental to be important. Nearly half receive CO2 emissions reports.

• Safety and security are priorities when it comes to investing in sustainability for about 70 percent of both U.S. and Europe-based companies. Additionally, 71 percent of European companies favor the long-term cost savings of sustainability, while 68 percent of American companies are focused on the contribution to society that sustainability provides.

Developing Green Travel Policies and Emissions Tips

How do companies develop a policy on travel and strategize need, frequency and mode of travel in relation to sustainability? A necessary part of any company’s strategy centers on the need to reduce the number of employees traveling and how they are commuting, with a focus on travel modes that have low-carbon emissions:

1. Raise awareness about low-carbon driving.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the “largest absolute increase in 2014 energy-related carbon dioxide emissions was from the transportation sector.” Higher fuel consumption occurred between 2013-2014 due to decreases in fuel prices.

To reduce your company’s reliance on fossil fuels for transportation, educate staff on available low-carbon driving options. If employees use company cars, strive to assign vehicles with low carbon impact. Additionally, if employees lease vehicles, offer incentives to drive cars with less impact, such electric, hybrid and low-carbon vehicles.

2. Fly wisely and only as necessary.

Airplane travel is responsible for 10% of all greenhouse gas emissions. Flying is unavoidable in certain circumstances, but it’s better to fly wisely when you do.

Consider these ideas on reducing your impact on emissions when flying:

• Flying non-stop cuts down on half of a single flight’s emissions since you’re avoiding extra landings, takeoffs and taxi times. Without layovers, you get to your client faster and more efficiently as well.

• For daytime flights, choose economy. This class impacts the climate less because it allows more people on the plane, and that means less emissions per person.

• Bring only one carry-on for your flight. One bag is easier to handle and is less hassle when boarding.

• Rather than flying, take the train, if possible.

3. Support biking to work.

In the past decade, there has been a 60 percent increase of employees who bike to work in the United States. More cities are developing bike-share programs, bike lanes and other supportive structures to encourage green commuting.

The development of a cycling culture at work encourages physical exercise, motivation and the building of community in the office. Like carpooling, many people develop bike trains that follow a regular commuting route to and from a destination. Bike trains are developed for leisure, exercise and commuting to and from work.

Give incentives to employees to encourage and reward work-related commuting. Such incentives may be bike racks, gift cards, lunch catering celebrations and the inclusion of support structures that encourage an easier cycling commute (lockers, showers or a bike repair area).

The health impacts of biking improve employee morale as well by reducing or avoiding the tiring, stressful drives that affect an employee’s ability to be productive and happy at work.

4. While in town, invest in using public and alternative transportation.

When visiting an unfamiliar town, choose a low impact rental car or share a cab. Use public transportation to cut down further on business costs and to get to know the area. Some hotels offer bike rentals as well.

When using a form of alternative or public transportation, you’re generally safer than trying to drive, especially when in an unfamiliar area. You’ll also ensure you don’t arrive to a meeting with your client stressed out by road rage, traffic jams or from getting lost.

5. Measure and track sustainability through policy and procedure.

Implement policies and procedures that measure and improve upon cost, efficiency and environmental impact. Travel spent against the money you have generated is very important to measure across the board.

Consider booking large trips or regional trips closely together in terms of time and route. Develop policies that reasonably encourage employees to do more within a single trip to conserve time and gas.

Consult with travel managers for CO2 emissions reports from vendors and tips on integrating  sustainability into travel programs. Utilize this information to develop procedures to be put into practice to support sustainability initiatives.

Sustainability in business travel is an important issue as corporations analyze their place in global economics in relation to the bigger picture of environmental impact. Sustainability is measurable, and policies that support it do more than save the environment — they improve employee morale, cut unnecessary costs and nurture company culture. Additionally, sustainability builds a positive corporate influence in the world. 

When Eileen Fisher was a kid she was shy, had crossed eyes and mentally spaced out a lot. No one knew she was speaking to them because she didn’t look directly at the person to whom she spoke. She wasn’t exactly someone you would picture as being the future CEO of a leading fashion company. But she did it, and she spoke about her journey to 100 percent sustainability at the 2016 Sustainable Brands conference.

During Fisher’s early career as an interior and graphic designer, she struggled to find clothes that she felt comfortable wearing. She would literally get sick when she had to shop. Then, one trip to Japan changed her life forever. She fell in love with the kimono, a garment that's over 1,000 years old. It was simple, timeless and comfortable.

Five years later, Fisher began to create garments modeled after the kimono. “I was an uncomfortable person so I needed comfortable clothes,” Fisher said at the conference in San Diego. She didn’t think of herself as an entrepreneur, and when she showcased her garments at a New York fashion show, she didn’t even put price tags on the clothes. Other people thought otherwise, and at the next show people lined up to buy her garments.

Later, Fisher took two trips to Bhutan to learn about gross national happiness and to favelas in Brazil to see how people experience life. During this introspective time, she realized that she needed to be more present in her actions. People often fill their lives with meetings and activities without ever really stopping to ask, “Why am I doing this? Does it matter? Will it make a difference? How can I use my work to make the world a better place?”

This realization led her to designate a stool in her kitchen as a “purpose chair.” Every morning, she sat on the purpose chair and asked herself, “Okay, what matters today?”

When Fisher intentionally integrated purpose into her day, she became more vocal about sustainability. She said CEOs don’t want to be interviewed about sustainability because it’s a scary topic and because, despite a lot of effort, whatever they’re doing is not enough. The fashion industry is one of the worst polluters in the world. For example, it takes 700 gallons of water to make a T-shirt. There are ways to use less water by cleaning the water throughout the process, but the technology is not prevalent. There’s a lot of work to be done.

During a sustainability offsite, someone suggested Eileen Fisher become a 100 percent sustainable company. “Yes!” replied Fisher. She then created Vision 2020, an audacious goal to help the company get to 100 percent sustainability. This goal has since been embedded in the company, and it is meeting its milestones with impressive success. Company worth has risen along with sustainability implementation, and Eileen Fisher is now valued at almost half a billion dollars.

It was then that Fisher had another realization: Even if the company can meet its Vision 2020 goals, it wouldn't accomplish much unless the rest of the industry came along for the ride. So, she delegated some employees as 'sustainability ambassadors' to work with other companies and share the knowledge and practices at Eileen Fisher.

From the “purpose chair” to Vision 2020 to sustainability ambassadors, Fisher proves that when we act thoughtfully and collaborate together, we can change the world.

Image courtesy of Eileen Fisher

Botswana is the African darling of the international community, praised for its success as a progressive society with a multi-party democracy. This thriving economy is also an environmentally-responsible tourism destination. In fact, Lonely Planet named Botswana its top travel destination in 2016, giving the country one more reason to celebrate its 50 years of independence.

There is no denying Botswana’s impressive rags-to-riches story. The tale centers around its achievement in building an industry that appeals to tourists' desires for uninhibited encounters with wildlife, environmental preservation and unparalleled luxury. Sadly, many who call this land home have not shared in the country’s success. Paradoxically, it is those who have lived here for millennia who now seem cursed by the bountiful blessings reaped in their homeland.

The San – who are locally referred to as Basarwa but prefer the term Bushmen -- are widely believed to be the world’s oldest people. They are direct decedents of the first homo sapiens, having inhabited the Kalahari desert as hunters and gatherers for more than 30,000 years. You might think that a people and culture who attract such foreign intrigue would fit perfectly into a nation renowned for its leadership in ecotourism.

Instead, despite their long-held claim to the land, the San’s recent history is one of displacement and tragedy. Over the past several centuries, they’ve been kicked around Southern Africa, first by the Bantu tribes of the north, then European colonists, and finally their own government -- into ever shrinking plots of land in the name of wildlife conservation and mineral excavation.

In Botswana’s quest to preserve its wildlife and environment as the focal point of its tourism industry, the government forcibly removed San communities from its richest wildlife reserves. More recently, in the early 1980s, diamonds were discovered in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, resulting in further displacements of more than 5,000 San from their ancestral lands. Losing their homes, schools, traditional health posts, water supply and access to game hunting, they were relegated to resettlement camps outside of the reserve and left to depend on meager government handouts.

The plight of the San has been described with terms such as ethnocide. What once numbered the planet’s largest population for tens of thousands of years has been decimated to well under 100,000 today. This tragedy is perhaps best summed up by one of the most horrific laws ever adopted. As recently as 1936, it was actually legal -- and even encouraged -- to hunt the San people. That’s right, less than a century ago, the world’s oldest people were dehumanized by their own government to the value of overpopulated wild game!

In 2006, the Bushmen finally tasted a slice of victory when judges ruled that they should reclaim their right to live within their ancestral territories and access the boreholes of which they have been deprived. The court described the plight of the Bushmen as a “harrowing story of human suffering and despair.”

In response, the government has ramped up their support of San living on the reservations, introducing free education and health care, food-for-work programs, old-age pensions, drought aid, free food for AIDS orphans, and free antiretrovirals for people with HIV/AIDS. However, this very support has fostered a deeply unhealthy dependency. Today, an overwhelming proportion of Botswana’s San are gripped by alcoholism, prostitution, depression, and diseases including HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. "The government gives but does not empower," explains Alice Mogwe, head of Ditshwanelo, the Botswana Centre for Human Rights. "Its progress is based on dependency."

While Botswana still issues permits for big game hunting, the San have recently been denied the right to hunt – a devastating blow to their central livelihood.

The plight of the San raises the question: Is there a place for an ancient people and culture in today’s world? Despite their incredible resourcefulness, recent history’s answer seems to be no. Yet, is there not an opportunity for Botswana’s people to preserve their culture and lifestyle through tourism? A number of responsible tour operators are determined to find an answer to this question.

Adventure travel leader G Adventures is working to improve the relationship between the tourism industry and local communities through partnerships with impact-driven local organizations. "As G Africa unfolds, we are working toward ensuring that every stop is locally owned and supports the community," explains CEO (Chief Experience Officer), Farai Chigwada.

Most Botswana tour itineraries have not ventured far beyond its game parks, but G Adventures guides its small groups on weeklong overland treks that make multiple stops across the region. It aims to facilitate opportunities for authentic engagement with local communities, from guides of Chobe National Park to the poler captains who sail mokoro canoes through the Okavango Delta.

The Lando, G Adventures' new bright purple all-terrain, WiFi-enabled overland vehicle, also stops in Ghanzi, a town in Western Botswana, which holds one of the region’s largest communities of Bushmen. There, they introduce travelers to San culture through authentic interaction in the form of campfire dances and survival skills bush walks, offered by partners like Ghanzi Trailblazers Camp. "We help youngsters learn about their own culture so they can pass it to their children," explains Robert Camm.

G Adventures (and others) also direct travelers to the nearby Kuru Cultural Center. This Dutch-supported initiative boasts an adult language and vocational training center, a preschool, and various cultural programs serving Bushmen communities in D’Kar, Botswana. In addition to operating a museum and library, Kuru hosts an annual cultural festival, well known across Botswana. The Kuru Art Project supports local Bushman artists to revive the role of art as an expressive outlet for their traditions and recent life experiences, as their ancestors had done in the rock paintings all over Southern Africa. Finally, Kuru has incubated Dqae Qare, the region’s only lodge owned by the San themselves.

Still, as G Adventures and others have found, organizations that are in fact owned and operated by Bushmen are virtually nonexistent outside of foreign-backed Kuru. Many local tour operators offer cultural tours, yet their impacts on the San are at best limited. "They are almost always designed and imposed by foreign owners who reap the majority of the benefits," explains Mogwe of the human rights center. A prime example is the wildly popular Bushmen painting tours in the caves of Tsodilo and elsewhere across Southern Africa, hardly any of which are guided by today’s decedents of the original Bushmen artists.

Incidentally, interest in interacting with the San and other local communities has never been more palpable. As Botswana enjoys a tourist boom, an increasing percentage of travelers crave a more educational, authentic and impactful experience. "Over the past couple of decades, people spent huge amounts of money to come to Africa to see wildlife," explains Chigwada of G Adventures. "But today, travelers are increasingly asking for opportunities to engage with local people and culture."

Time ticks by as the rapidly dwindling community of San await an answer to the question that will determine their future: Will Botswana finally embrace its rich history as it seeks to build one of the world’s great tourist destinations? Or will this nation’s history be forever tainted by the haunting ghosts of the world’s first people as they slip into extinction just like many of the wild beasts that once inhabited this land?

Image credits: G Adventures

Columbia will reveal new rain jacket free of perfluorinated compounds, better known as PFCs, in spring 2017. The rain jacket will feature a technology the company calls OutDry Extreme ECO and will sell for $199.

Columbia released another technology called OutDry Extreme this spring. By using the technology, it eliminated the outer fabric layer of rainwear, which eliminates the need for a PFC-based Durable Water Repellent (DWR) coating. Most rain jackets uses PFC-based DWR on the outer layers which allows them to repel water. Without that treatment, water would just soak into the fabric. And no one wants a rain jacket that doesn’t keep them dry.

PFCs are so incredibly strong that they don’t easily break down in the environment, and are found to bio-accumulate in animals and humans. So, why aren’t outdoor brands rushing to ditch PFCs? Columbia staff pointed out in a blog post that almost all major outdoor brands acknowledge that “PFC-free DWR alternatives haven’t provided the durability and performance that customers expect.” In other words, other companies know that although PFCs are bad for the environment and human health, the alternatives just don’t work.

But the outdoor industry has transitioned to shorter-chain compounds, which are considered to be less persistent. Columbia transitioned the DWR used in all of its products to the C6 chain, which is considered safer. However, since C6 still has some environmental risks, Columbia wants to find eco-friendly alternatives.

Enter OutDry Extreme ECO and the rain jacket that will use the technology. The jacket’s eco-friendly traits don’t stop at the use of the new technology. Its main fabric is 100 percent recycled polyester, which will come from approximately 21 recycled bottles. Trims and other components will also contain recycled content. The jacket’s fabric will not be dyed which will reduce water, energy and chemicals. The raw materials used to make the jacket will be sustainably manufactured according to the Bluesign standards, which require manufacturers to meet a strict set of safety and environmental requirements.

Columbia's other environmental initiatives

Columbia has other environmental initiatives beyond its futuristic rain jacket. One of them is sourcing more sustainably-produced materials. Almost 80 percent of the materials it uses are polyester-based, and making polyester is energy intensive. The solution is recycled polyester. Since 2014, Columbia has bought over 10 million yards of polyester with recycled content.

Columbia also wants to ensure that the down insulation used in its products is produced under humane and ethical conditions. The company committed to using 100 percent certified natural down based on the Textile Exchange’s Responsible Down Standard for fall 2016. Using the standard will ensure that the down Columbia uses is sourced from geese, ducks or other waterfowl that are treated responsibly, and it will also allow the down to be traced.

The company's goal for its packaging is to produce minimal waste. One way Columbia minimizes packaging waste is by specifying that its manufacturing partners use single-wall cartons instead of double-wall. This small shift reduces the packaging materials needed for product shipments by nearly 30 percent. The company also minimizes transport waste by increasing the efficiency of its product shipments. For example, in 2013 it reduced fiber used by almost 400 tons and eliminated about 750 containers through reduced carton volume and improving container utilization.

Ending landfill waste from unwanted clothes is a necessary part of being a sustainable clothing company. To that end, Columbia is piloting a take-back program called Rethreads. Through the program, customers can bring in their used clothing and shoes from any brand to seven stores in Oregon, Washington and Minnesota. Customers who bring in unwanted clothing are given 10 percent off a purchase of $75 or more.

Image credit: Columbia

By Ivana Gazibara

Never mind the short-run macroeconomics. Never mind the worrying noises from the far-right across pretty much every corner of Europe. Never mind even the fact that our exit from the European Union will almost certainly leave us poorer over the long-term. I am both worried and sad about all of the above. But there has been enough noise and pontificating on the potential socioeconomic fall-outs of Brexit without me adding yet another voice of doom and gloom. The thing that seems to be missing from the mainstream debate thus far is the question of what Brexit will mean for environmental sustainability. Hardly surprising: Environmental issues were largely overlooked in the debates that raged in the run-up to the referendum.

The trouble with Brexit in the context of most environmental issues is that such issues know no national boundaries. Over the years, the EU gave us some of the world’s most progressive environmental legislation, on everything from air quality to waste management. The U.K. often took a lead in shaping these laws. Now that we’ve decided to go it alone, there is a question mark as to what extent we will maintain those standards, not to mention how we will keep up with emerging ones. Certainly the EU membership brought an element of ‘peer pressure’ (and real pressure, in the form of audits) to bear on environmental matters, which will no longer be there once we exit.

Don’t get me wrong, many of our environmental responses as a country are enshrined in British law. What worries me is that the same leadership (and I use that word loosely) that got us out of the EU, is a leadership that is likely to bring out the more environmentally skeptical and backward elements in national politics. This could lower our ambitions on crucial matters like climate change action. After all, the U.K. signed the Paris Climate Agreement. But neither we nor most European countries have ratified it yet. One decision to watch in the coming months is what we end up doing with the Fifth Carbon Budget, which is ultimately our expression of commitment to the Climate Change Act. Will we or will we not adopt the Committee on Climate Change recommendation of a 57 percent reduction from 1990 to 2030? We most definitely should.

Environmental issues not only cross boundaries, but they also tend to be incredibly complex problems that are tough to solve -- particularly unilaterally. Now that we have pretty much flipped the bird to the wider philosophical notion of working in close collaboration with other EU countries to resolve key challenges, what is the message we are sending about collaborative action at large? Not a great one on the surface of things.

There is also the practical, and horrifyingly complex, task of sorting out the legalities of Britain’s extrication from the EU. In this context of legislative uncertainty – including on environmental laws - business leadership on sustainability will become even more important than in the past. And there’s the danger that the time and effort needed for extrication will take away from the resources needed for implementation of climate action and commitments. Business should act both as a stabilizing force and as a standard-setter of high ambition and real action.

In the storm of uncertainty, one thing is certain: If ever there was a case for some compelling future visioning, across national borders, now is the time.

There is a future in which Britain turns inward and where the myriad uncertainties resulting from Brexit result in a slow-down in -- or even a reversal of -- environmental improvements. In this future, the resulting macroeconomic slide leads to uncertainty and reluctance of investors to commit, including to green industries. Higher poverty rates and lower living standards lead to the sorting out of other priorities first. New social movements, from the radical left to anti-immigration populism, focus the lens on issues like social inequality. Many environmental protection laws could come to be seen simply as ‘red tape’ to be rolled back post-Brexit. This may also, perhaps, be a future where we are talking about just England, rather than Great Britain, being outside the EU.

However, another possible future exists -- one in which Britain takes a front foot on tackling environmental challenges, flying the banner for both climate leadership and collaboration with other state and non-state actors, irrespective of a lack of formal membership in the EU. In this future, young people can channel their anger and frustration about the referendum result into a much more active and activist approach to politics, and accelerate the U.K.’s transition to a low-carbon, resource-efficient and sustainable economy. This economy would derive social and economic value from ‘green growth.' The U.K.’s relationship to the EU would be modeled on, say, Norway’s: close ties, and broad alignment on many issues and values, without formal membership.

I choose the second future. Although a lot will change as a result of the U.K. leaving the EU, our dependence on shared resources and our common vulnerability to climate change will not.

Ivana Gazibara is Head of Futures at Forum for the Future.

By Indy Ratnathicam

We have made huge strides in our country's approach to efficient energy use. The most recent example is the output from the U.N. Climate Summit in Paris (COP21) late last year that marked the commitment the U.S., along with other countries, is making to sustainability.  Political debates for the 2017 presidential election are ridden with talk of a greener world. And the press reports almost daily on the newest renewable-energy gadgets that can turn sun and water into power. Why is it then that businesses don't put sustainability higher on their priority list?

A recent PWC survey found that global warming is low on the list of top concerns for U.S. CEOs today. More of them care about overregulation in the energy market than climate change, according to the findings. In fact, in many organizations, energy is the responsibility of middle management and never makes it onto the C-suite's agenda. It is evident that despite pushes for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and increasing tax breaks with programs like LEED certification, businesses are not universally committed to going green.

Many businesses believe they should not be charged with caring about things like climate change, and instead must focus on running their organization in the most efficient and profitable way to meet shareholder demands. This thinking, however, ignores the fact that energy efficiency can enable corporations to save millions of dollars on their bottom line. Yet even with CSR pushes and tax breaks, and despite organizations understanding the power of efficiencies and opportunities to save, there is still a lag when it comes to corporations acting in a sustainable way.

So, how do we as a nation get businesses on board with sustainability and convert them into energy-efficiency champions?  The answer might not be as complex as you think.

While almost all businesses think in terms of revenue, the way in which each creates that revenue is different. From varying supply chains, customers and business models, a one-size-fits-all approach will fail when it comes to addressing corporations on a national scale. Instead, corporations need to understand energy on their own individual terms.

General statements around energy efficiency will fall on deaf ears at the corporate level. What works instead is speaking the language of each individual organization. Broad statements such as "you can save money with LED lights" are transformed into customized statements like, "you have the potential to save $1.2 million if you replace lights with LEDs in buildings A, B and C, which will result in a $10 million return for your organization over the next five years.” For a small business owner, that statement may inform them “by installing a programmable thermostat, you can save 15 percent on your energy costs and improve your gross margin by 5 percent.” Arming decision-makers with contextual information drives higher propensity to act on recommendations by highlighting the impact that energy waste has on the businesses individual operations.

The key to understanding businesses across the nation at this detailed level is customer intelligence. Using meter data and publicly-available records, data analysts can pinpoint details about individual organizations, and their energy use, which is critical to evaluating each businesses potential for savings. Also fundamental to getting businesses onboard with sustainability is to highlight and promote the most cost-efficient energy improvements. While large-cost projects like building a green lab may eventually create energy savings, it's the low-cost or no-cost opportunities, like altering heating and cooling schedules when the building is unoccupied, that are more achievable and can make a huge difference in cost.

The average corporate building wastes 30 percent of its energy per year, and often most of that waste can be avoided with simple, operational fixes. By using data analytics to dig into the specifics of each building and turning that information into customer intelligence that delivers actionable opportunities for corporations, there is a massive opportunity to dramatically reduce building waste. It's time for utilities, property managers and even the U.S. government to look into the data at their fingertips and start talking about sustainability in terms that mean something to the nation's corporations.  Getting this group onboard will enable huge savings while allowing us to get much closer to our sustainability goals.

Image credit: Pixabay

Indy Ratnathicam is the vice president of marketing and strategy at FirstFuel.

By Brooke Nally

The agriculture industry has been harvesting the power of the sun for hundreds of years. But could new improvements to solar technology change farming and ranching as we know it?

Solar power is leading the way into the 21st century, saving farmers money, boosting small operations and reducing carbon footprints. Here’s a closer look at solar applications in today's farming practices, as well as the benefits — and potential challenges — that solar sustainability may bring about in the future.

Solar agriculture today

Solar technology has developed at a lightning fast rate. Today, the agriculture industry harnesses the power of the sun to accomplish dozens of farming tasks that used to take substantial amounts of utility-based power.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) notes that solar panels are best used on the farm for energy sources that don’t require a lot of electricity. But the number of U.S. agriculture businesses that rely on solar steadily increased over the last few years. These are just a few ways that farmers and ranchers are integrating solar power with their daily operations:

• Heating and cooling: The sun’s energy can be used to heat or cool air or water, which can then help regulate livestock building temperatures, dry crops and heat water.


• Water pumping: Solar-powered pumps can drive water to soak crops, feed livestock and run irrigation systems.


• Water aeration: Aeration devices provide much-needed oxygen to ponds and stock tanks, and several such setups run exclusively on solar power.


• Electricity production: Solar electricity can be used in agriculture outbuildings, too. Lighting and refrigeration are two major uses.


• Security: Farms and ranches take various security measures to protect their assets, and many of these tasks can be controlled by solar power, including security lighting, electric fences and gate openers.


• Ventilation: Rooftop ventilation systems, powered by solar energy, pull in fresh air and release hot air to keep animal enclosures and greenhouses healthy and efficient.


• Biosgas digestion: Solar-heated biogas digesters turn methane-rich manure from dairy farms and cattle ranches into usable electricity.

Developments like these are helping to push greater sustainability across the industry. Results from the USDA’s first On-Farm Renewable Energy survey in 2011 showed that there is a major “economic upside to producing energy on the farm.” Farmers in almost every state noted significant savings on their utility bills after implementing renewable energy sources, with solar panels being the most common.

The future of solar in agriculture

Current solar applications could be just the beginning of solar integration with the agriculture industry. Though most farms haven’t yet gone completely solar, new PV tech is making total sustainability possible. As the Economist reported earlier this month, the future of farming is in manufacturing: Farms need to start operating like factories to feed the world’s growing food needs, and solar is one of the most cost-effective, environmentally-friendly ways to do so.

The smart solar push has resulted in some very exciting developments. In Australia, for instance, engineers have developed a solar-powered robot that identifies and zaps weeds in a field. Other in-development robots can travel between rows of plants to apply fertilizer or pick fruits and vegetables.

Solar power isn’t automating just the basic needs at farms and ranches, either. In the long run, solar is a cost-effective investment for the agriculture industry, saving farmers and ranchers the cost of additional physical labor. Given the agriculture industry’s recent labor shortages, smart solar mechanization may be the perfect solution.

Consumer solar applications and industry challenges

Solar adoption throughout the agriculture industry may seem ideal, but these sustainable technology developments have brought about a few hurdles as well. Widespread solar development is making consumer-based gardening cheaper and easier, for example. And while that may sound like a good thing for consumers, it could pose problems for the industry at large.

One developing consumer device is the GrowBot, a garden robot invented to take the cost, land and learning curve out of organic eating. A coffee table-sized garden controlled by solar power manages itself, from fertilizing to watering based on individual plant needs. Prototypes start at $500, but that cost could drop in price as the manufacturing of GrowBot is commercialized for residential use.

As smart solar technology become more accessible for residential use — and consumers eagerly embrace all things eco-conscious — the future of industrial agriculture is uncertain. If individual gardening devices become popular and people start using them to grow their own food instead of relying on farmers, the agriculture industry may need to work a little harder to stay relevant.

Whether consumer-based solar gardening gadgets take off or not, though, there’s no doubt that the agriculture of the future will look significantly different than it does today. The world’s population is growing, meaning there are more people to feed and fewer viable locations to farm. A growing portion of the public is advocating for food to be grown without chemical pesticides, and governments worldwide are pushing for farms to decrease their carbon footprints. Logistically, an agriculture industry sustained by solar and other sources of renewable energy seems to be the best and brightest option out there.

Image credit: Flickr/Ingmar Zahorsky

Based out of Salt Lake City, Utah, Brooke is the content coordinator for SolarPowerAuthority. She is a solar expert with a love for all things eco, including smart green design, hydroponic grow systems, green business initiatives, and sustainable living off the grid. You can contact her via Twitter; @brookenally. 

by Koen Bas — The emergence of new technologies in smart energy, coupled with customer behavioural changes and demands, is reshaping the utility industry. The energy and utilities landscape is undergoing a rapid, major transformation as a result of global and political market changes. Sustainability, competition, compliance, operational excellence and cost-efficiency are major business drivers in the utilities industry.

In order to maintain pace and keep up with these changes, utilities must assess and anticipate the changing market conditions, whilst being in a position to accept and benefit from new technology opportunities. The collection and handling of large data volumes, real-time data processing, and utilising digital channels to connect with customers are quickly becoming top priorities for utilities, whether they are integrated utilities, or separate grid companies, generators, retailers and traders in liberalized markets. However, in such an emerging environment, utility companies run the risk of being left behind. They face pressures in many areas, environmental concerns are forcing them to rely upon more eco-friendly, sustainable power generation, whilst they implement programs designed to make customers aware to cut power consumption even further.

Elster works with global organisations across the energy value chain, combining industry, technology and business expertise to help utility companies adapt to shifting market drivers. Its unique offering helps utilities to adopt and integrate meter data collection and meter data management through Connexo™, a unified utility intelligence solution, which embraces new metering and communication technologies and continues to manage legacy asset bases on the same single platform.

The issue with separate and multiple systems that need to be integrated often results in missing or redundant data, with a ‘single unified view’ of all smart grid data missing. Older technologies make it difficult to make this data available across other applications.  Many systems are hard to implement, have a high learning curve and can be frustrating to operate. Once they are implemented it is nearly impossible to adapt them to changing business needs. So, what is the solution? What should utilities consider to ensure they adopt new platforms that are easy to deploy and future-proof, whilst giving them a fully holistic view?

Elster designed Connexo, its unified utility intelligence solution, to enable utilities to meet these challenges head-on, to support industry best practice and compliance and provide a platform to deliver continuous innovation into the future. The solution helps utilities to keep pace and become flexible, reliable and innovative by using their key asset – information – more efficiently. Elster’s next-generation software portfolio looks after a utility’s entire smart data flow: from device management and multi-vendor/multi-network data collection to scalable data management and comprehensive, built-in analytics. This can help utilities to further manage the escalating volumes, types and complexity of smart grid data needed to meet evolving business, regulatory and customer expectations.

As utilities face continuously evolving business models and technologies, there is a need for modular design for smart grid software solutions. These software platforms must be able to rapidly adapt to continuous technology and regulatory changes as well as market challenges. With the help of next-generation software solutions such as Connexo, utilities can now face these challenges confidently by being able to incrementally grow the solution to their changing needs. Connexo supports more than 200 communication protocols, which enables seamless collection and processing of data from many different meter and sensor vendors in the smart grid ecosystem. Its modular architecture provides the flexibility to easily add new devices, protocols and applications such as prepayment, security key management and analytics, to support present and future use cases as the industry and utility needs change.

Climate change, rising energy prices and technology advances are all forces that have beenreshaping the collective mind-set of consumers, turning many from "passive ratepayers" to highly informed, environmentally conscious customers who want a role in using power. And now, with the emergence of the technologies that make smart grids possible, companies can provide their customers with the information and control they need to actually change their behaviour patterns and reduce usage and costs that show up on the utility bill. Furthermore, implementing a prepayment model for their customers will enhance customer satisfaction. Online account access provides immediate credit and consumption information to customers that helps to improve energy efficiency and avoid surprises due to high energy bills.

The power industry is a highly regulated industry, regardless of global location and can be regulated at multiple levels. Unfortunately, some of the current market designs won’t support the shift from a capacity-oriented system to a disaggregated, flexible power system without significant adaptations. This is one more reason why utilities should look to implement a software solution they can rely upon – one that allows them to integrate key operational workflows, business processes and smart grid data from multiple devices and vendors. Utilities benefit most from a unified and simple approach via a single interoperable solution. Connexo eliminates the challenges that arise for those utilities operating separate data collection and management systems. Its built-in workflow automation and guided decision-making are designed to enhance operator productivity, therefore reducing the cost and complexity of utility operations.

Koen Bas is head of product management software & services EMEA/APAC at Elster Electricity, now part of Honeywell. Koen has 30 years of experience in the software industry in a variety of industries and a number of roles in product development, product management, marketing, sales and business development. Koen has been active in the utility industry for the last eight years and joined Elster in 2010, where he is currently running the product management organisation that manages the Connexo and Enacto product platforms.

Full details on Connexo can be found at www connexo.com.

Business in the Community has launched a landmark National Employee Mental Wellbeing Survey to gain a comprehensive understanding of the UK workforce’s mental wellbeing, and identify solutions to improve mental health at work.

Business in the Community is calling on all UK employees - line managers, senior leaders and direct reports – in all forms of employment, to take part, in order to get a picture of workers’ mental wellbeing, what employers are doing about it, and what needs to change. To take part: www.thewellbeingsurvey.org.uk

Mental ill health is the leading cause of sickness absence in the UK and is on the increase. 15.2 million days of sickness absence in 2013 were caused by everyday conditions such as stress anxiety or depression – a dramatic increase from 11.8 million days in 2010.  Business in the Community hopes the survey will transform how the UK approaches mental wellbeing at work. The online survey is completely confidential and will be conducted every year for the next three years by YouGov, and aims to be the largest ever survey of mental wellbeing at work.

Questions will focus on levels of employee mental wellbeing, awareness of mental wellbeing issues, and managers’ ability to support mental wellbeing. The survey closes on 29 July. The findings will be launched one week before World Mental Health Day, on 4 October. 

The survey is being supported by Mind, CIPD, the Institute of Leadership and Management, The Work Foundation, Maudsley Learning at Work, and Mental health First Aid, along with a number of leading businesses. Anglian Water Group and National Grid are also championing the survey with their workforces and networks and asking other businesses to do the same.

Louise Aston, Wellbeing Campaign Director at Business in the Community, said: “The launch of the survey is another landmark moment in our work to tackle mental health in the workplace. It will raise public and employer awareness of the importance of mental wellbeing; including the crucial role of the line manager. It will identify how equipped line managers and employees are to spot the early warning signs of poor mental health, to have a conversation around mental health, and to signpost colleagues to appropriate support. It will also identify interventions that may be impacting on mental wellbeing, and over time will help us to track the shift in managers’ capabilities to understand and improve mental wellbeing.

“We are convening partners and business in a collaborative effort to provide a snapshot of employee mental wellbeing with the intention that we can all work collectively to improve mental wellbeing at work. We are asking businesses to promote the National Employee Mental Wellbeing Survey to their employees and wider networks so that, working together, we can reach as many employees as possible – asking them to share their experiences of mental health in the workplace.”   

New toolkit for employers

The launch of the survey coincides with today’s launch of a major new interactive resource for employers, developed by Business in the Community and Public Health England. The Mental Health Toolkit for Employers aims to help employers to take positive actions to build a culture that champions good mental health and provide a greater understanding for how to help those who need more support. To use the free tool, visit: http://wellbeing.bitc.org.uk/all-resources/toolkits/mental-health-employers

Justin Varney, National Lead for Adult Health and Wellbeing, Public Health England, said: “All employers have a responsibility to support the health and wellbeing of their staff. Staff who have positive mental health are more productive and businesses who look after the mental wellbeing of their employees can see a significant impact on business performance.

“This toolkit will help employers understand and act, step by step. It will help employers pick out the best free resources that are most useful to them, and help them develop an approach that fits the needs of their organisation.”

Peter Simpson, Chief Executive of Anglian Water Group, Chair of Business in the Community’s Wellbeing Leadership Team, said:  “At Anglian Water we understand the positive benefits for both the employee and the business of creating a culture where we can openly discuss and manage mental wellbeing. For some time we have been raising awareness with our employees, providing resources and tools to demonstrate this culture and stimulate conversations, and have started to take the approach outside the company. The Mental Health Toolkit for Employers gives us the perfect opportunity to start a conversation with our supply chain and to further expand our approach to mental wellbeing in the workplace.”

To take part in the National Employee Mental Wellbeing Survey, open to all UK employees, visit: www.thewellbeingsurvey.org.uk

To use the Mental Health Toolkit for Employers, visit: http://wellbeing.bitc.org.uk/all-resources/toolkits/mental-health-employers

 

 

Midcounties Co-operative’s social responsibility manager Mike Pickering explains how a focus on localism can lead to business success 

Interview by Tom Idle — As the largest independent co-operative in the UK, with 9,000 staff across more than 500 sites, the Midcounties Co-operative is a big business.

With honesty, equality and democracy at the core of its purpose to serve local communities (and turn a profit for the members which own it), the £1bn turnover organisation is on a mission to prove the co-operative model is not dead yet. Picking up the Overall Excellence in Social Responsibility trophy at the recent National CSR Awards is just the start, says Mike Pickering, the man charged with making sure the company creates as much social value, in the right places, as possible.

TI: With such a broad range of businesses under the Midcounties Co-operative umbrella – food, travel, pharmacy andfuneral– how do you determine what is of most material importance from a sustainability point of view?

MP: We are owned by our 500,000 members and they give us the direction as to where they feel we should focus.

Obviously, we have internal mechanisms, such as our environmental steering group, to help determine where our biggest impacts are. But it is our members that guide us to address the issues most prevalent in their local communities.

All of our businesses follow our Society Steering Wheel, which ensures they meet certain criteria, whether that be saving energy, supporting community projects or promoting ethical trade, for example.

TI: In terms of servicing the sustainability agenda internally, does being a co-operative make your job easier?

MP: Yes and no. The thing that makes it easier is the buy-in you get from the top and right way through the business. We are pushing against an open door when it comes to adopting sustainability measures.

But we do have a passionate group of stakeholders who are always making sure we raise the bar and be the best we can be.

TI: Your core values as a business are democracy, equality and honesty. Does this approach present specific challenges from a management standpoint? After all, you can have too much democracy and honesty when running a business, can’t you?

MP: Well, it has to be managed properly, with the right mechanisms in place to allow people to have their say. And you have to give members the information they need to help them make informed decisions.

TI: What is keeping you awake at night right now?

MP: In general, there are loads of good things going on within the business community. But what’s most important is really making a difference and prioritising where we can make the biggest impacts.

TI: How do you know you’re doing a good job? A National CSR Award is a validation of your efforts, but what other metrics do you use to assess progress?

MP: Internally, we have business metrics such as energy saving and recycling.

We also have community-focused targets, including fundraising totals and identifying key local community priorities each year. So, rather than just guess, we want to target the local issues of most significance. This year, one local community has picked raising awareness of dementia and autism, for example.

Ultimately, we are judged by our members. When we present back to members every year on how we are doing, they will vote as to whether to continue with this activity and the investment we put into it.

TI: According to your latest social responsibility report, you made £58m in ethical trade sales in 2014, up 25% on the previous year. What constitutes an ethical trade sale?

MP: Our criteria for ethical trade is Fairtrade, organic and animal welfare certified products.We have campaigns in place for all of these.

TI: Why do you make non-ethical trade sales?

MP: Co-op branded products certainly are ethical. But ultimately, the business is run as a democracy, with our members choosing what we stock and what we don’t stock. Right now, they believe we need a mix of different products to be a profitable business.

TI: Do you find yourselves having to compete on sustainability with competitors?

MP: To an extent, there is some healthy competition.

We are a part of a number of collective groups, like Business in the Community, because we want to share information about how we are doing things. Collaboration is fairly high, even amongst competitive retailers.

TI: And what does that collaboration look like?

MP: There is lots of sharing of best practice on things like energy saving and recycling. Putting doors on chillers to save energy or tackling food waste by sending it to anaerobic digestion are initiatives where companies are helping each other out.

TI: How important is your purpose – as a cooperative with entrenched values – to your economic success as a business?

MP: The purpose is hugely important. But it’s only important if it’s embedded in the business. Without our Steering Wheel, which is a response to our purpose and targets all of our businesses and sites to meet certain standards, our purpose means nothing.

TI: Do your customers care? Is it your values and purpose that make them loyal?

Yes, I think it’s key to our competitiveness. We are the local community retailer – and seen as such – because of our projects and the fundraising we do. Our members, who live locally and are also customers, give us great feedback and let us know how we are doing.

TI: So, what’s next for you, Mike?

MP: We have gone from supporting one national charity partner, to having numerous local partner charities, and we want as many of our members involved in that process as possible.