Ecoleader's Blog

Will the Next Big Thing Be Green?

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 22:49:07 +0000

Baumgartner’s World Record Jump

Earlier this week, much of the world witnessed an amazing human and technological feat when Felix Baumgartner – an Austrian Skydiver, daredevil and Base jumper – broke the sound barrier at Mach 1.24 (834 m.p.h) during his skydiving freefall from an altitude of over 128,000 feet (~24 miles) [see video]. Sixty-five years earlier on the same day (Oct. 14^th), test pilot Chuck Yeager became the first person to break the sound barrier in an experimental X-1 jet at an altitude of 45,000 feet (~ 8 miles). Baumgartner’s superhuman feat would not be possible without a number of technological innovations. Since no scientist knew what the human body was capable of until Felix’s jump, the Red Bull-sponsored event may have done more to stretch the imagination of what’s possible than any other privately sponsored challenge.

In advance of the jump from the edge of space, DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) launched their next Grand Challenge last week to help stretch inventors’ imaginations that would lead to the next breakthrough in science and technology. (You can click here for a copy of the RFI; the entries are due January 1, 2013.) While the Apollo program and mapping the human genome are cited as examples of such significant breakthroughs, Felix’s world record-setting feat may eventually be positioned in an awe-inspiring Grand Challenge category. Yet as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy joins forces with DARPA to sponsor the challenge, will the Next Big Thing be green (i.e., an eco-impacting invention)?

With U.S. VC investments rising 30% year-over-year in the Cleantech industry to $6.6 Billion in 2011, the category now represents a record 23% of all VC investments across the country (source: Cleantech Group). Cleantech competitions and conferences are also fueling the momentum to find the Next Big Thing. Two of the most recognizable events that continue fostering Cleantech creativity include SXSW Eco and the Cleantech Open.

SXSW Eco recently announced the winner of the first StartUp Showcase that was derived from the Clean Energy Venture Summit and co-sponsored by the Austin Technology Incubator and Austin Energy. Planet Reuse won the overall competition while Nexus eWater and NuMat Technologies had honorable mentions as Finalists. Each of the firm’s eco technology is focused on solving large scale challenges:

Planet Reuse simplifies the purchasing of reclaimed building materials by matching the types of materials with the buyers (designers, builders and owners) to save money on projects, serve LEED certification objectives and sustain the planet. As much as 40% of the buried content in U.S. landfills consists of construction materials.
Nexus eWater (based in Australia) has commercialized the world’s first residential grey water and heat recycler. Grey water is wastewater generated by washing people and their clothes. It accounts for nearly half of the water used in a typical home and, while relatively clean, it accounts for about 70% of domestic wastewater. Grey water has the additional benefit of being warm and represents valuable water and heat resources being flushed away. Within the United States, heating, treating and transporting water accounts for about 15% of the carbon footprint of the United States.
NuMat Technologies has been a finalist or won every Cleantech competition it has entered. As a spinout from Northwestern University, NuMat designs and synthesizes a new class of materials to help gas be stored more efficiently and effectively.

One of the most significant venues driving the way to find the Next Big Thing in Cleantech is the Cleantech Open Accelerator and Competition, the largest of its kind in the world. The Cleantech Open charter is to find, fund and foster entrepreneurs with big ideas that address today’s most urgent energy, environmental and economic challenges. Since its inception in 2006, the Cleantech Open has awarded over $5 million in cash and services to support cleantech growth companies. The 581 participating companies in the Cleantech Open’s accelerator programs have raised more than $660 million in external capital.

Here is a sampling of a few of the Finalists that will be competing in the National Competition based in Silicon Valley on November 2^nd and 3^rd:

RideScout (Austin, TX) provides a mobile application for car-pooling and ride-sharing. The app connects riders with a range of transportation service providers by matching a user’s rider preferences such as cost, time and convenience to recommend a “best ride” from all transportation options available. Depending on the city, some of the options include public buses, taxis, subways, and trains in addition to social-enabled options for car-pooling or ride-sharing with friends, friends of friends, and shared-car arrangements (e.g., integrated with a user’s network of Facebook friends).
GR Green (Burnaby, BC) designed a patented process to produce ecological synthetic roofing and siding products from limestone waste and recycled milk bottles and grocery bags. The roofing and siding solutions are nearly carbon-neutral and can be completely recycled at the end of their 50+ years of use, making them certifiable under the “Cradle to Cradle” standard.
Molon Labe Designs (Breckenridge, CO), a finalist in the Transportation category, has designed a new airline seat that can help airlines cut loading and unloading time in half. The firm’s innovative “slider seat” slides away from the aisle, expanding the aisle space from 19 inches to 43 inches and allowing faster boarding in adjacent rows. After boarding on each row is completed, the aisle seat is slid back into position.

While the above eco solutions may eventually be implemented on a larger scale with sufficient funding and go-to-market execution, at least one publication has created a list of the “Top 7 Challenges We Want to See Next;” click here for the Popular Science article (in the spirit of the Grand Challenge). At least two of their proposed challenges would have an impact on sustainability:

The Nikola Tesla Memorial Grand Challenge: Transmit energy over more than 200 miles wirelessly and without losing electricity.
The Teleportation Grand Challenge: Transport an object (more than a couple of photons) from one point to another over an incredible distance with a high-level of accuracy.

What Next Big Thing would you like to see invented?

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SXSW Eco Keynote: The Story of Change (with video)

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 20:14:56 +0000

One of the best finales to a series of SXSW Eco Keynotes (Oct. 3-5) was Annie Leonard’s session titled “The Story of Change.” With a career devoted to improving the environment, Annie is the Director of the Story of Stuff Project and the author of “The Story of Stuff.” This keynote focused on her latest movie release, “The Story of Change,” (click here to watch the short video) which begs the question: “Can shoppers save the world?” That is, instead of buying more stuff in a vicious circle of our take-make-waste system: Can we put down our credit cards and exercise our citizen muscles to build a more sustainable world? She advises that our consumer muscles are strong because we use them a lot, so it’s time that we exercise our citizen muscles and unite to make a broader environmental change for society.

Annie regularly answers emails, phone calls and audience questions, yet there is one question that she hears most often: “I’m only one person – what can I do to change things?” The premise to her Stuff of Change keynote was that we can do more than just buy green products or fair trade consumer goods. We can be the agents of change. As a motivator to people who want to move away from our current scenario, Annie started with the bad news: Globally, we are now using 1.5 planets worth of resources every year; that’s shocking news because we only have one planet. As the Pulitzer Prize winning author/writer, Thomas Friedman, wrote in The Earth is Full, “What were we thinking?” And there are many crisis-driven trends that all point outward and upward like:

Income inequality is growing in the United States;
More American children are going to sleep hungry every night (1 out of 5);
More people are on welfare;
More people are becoming obese;
GHG pollution is worsening around the world;
Global temperatures are rising, etc.

Adding a glimmer of hope for people who are shaping a positive future, Annie shared the good news: “Solutions abound all around us. While there aren’t solutions to all of the environmental problems on the planet, there are solutions to a lot of them.” One of her crowd-pleasing quotes was: “If there are people that think solutions don’t exist, they’re either living in a cave or working at Fox News.” She continued, “Instead of working in a system that rewards us for trashing the planet and each other (by buying more stuff), we can design the planet to be safe, healthy and long-lasting. We can design economic rules to be fair. As Gandhi and others have said: ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world.’ “

Annie’s Keynote and movies serve as a massive call to action; “Yes, it’s good to recycle, buy organic food, change your light bulbs, compost, and avoid buying plastic water bottles; these are like responsible adult hygiene. However, it’s time for us to become changemakers and think of yourselves as changemakers. Focusing on making change as individual consumers misses our source of even greater power – as citizens working together, in our communities and in our democracy, to achieve way bigger change than is captured in any ‘ten simple things’ list.”

What kind of changemaker are you? Take a quiz at the following site (storyofchange.org) to chart your own path to exercise your citizen muscles.

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2012 Olympics: Mobile, Social, 3D and Green*

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sat, 28 Jul 2012 15:11:51 +0000

With as many as 4 billion people expected to watch the London Olympic games over the next two weeks, organizers have made many high-tech improvements that will captivate and elucidate viewers with four times more information produced than the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. Swimming Team has quickly shown how technology can play a social role in these Olympic Games with their fun video set to the song of “Call Me Maybe.” Here are seven advances in technology that will change the way we’ll experience the most digital-friendly Olympics.

Mobile Technology
With NBC poised to telecast a record 5,535 hours of Olympics coverage over the next two weeks, the viewing opportunities on our four screens have more than doubled since the 2000 hours broadcasted during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In the last four years, smartphone sales alone have risen over fivefold worldwide according to researcher IDC. So the Olympic planners have made it easier for us to view the Olympic events wherever we are and whenever we can with mobile applications:
1) The official London 2012 Olympics mobile applications for the Events, News, Results and games can be downloaded here for Apple iOS mobile devices, Google Android-based devices and Blackberry products. NBC has mobile applications for the iPhone, iPad and Android devices available here.
2) Visa has activated mobile payment technology in a variety of ways for the London Olympics to demonstrate what the future can be for mobile consumers. As many as 1,000 athletes and trialists will be able to use the Samsung Galaxy S III with Visa payWave app on their smartphones to make contactless payments at select locations. Millions of Visa payWave-enabled credit card owners can do the same for London taxis and many Olympic venues.

Social Media
With Facebook users increasing 10X and Twitter users expanding 300X since the 2008 Olympics (according to iProspect), 2012 marks the year of the Socialympics.
3) Facebook, the world’s largest social network with over 900 million users, has launched a unique Olympic portal as well as hosting the standard London Olympics Facebook site. The Olympic hub gives users an unlimited ability to access athletes, teams and venues at a level that wasn’t capable four years ago.
4) Twitter, the world’s favorite micro-blogging site with over 300 million users, has the official London Olympics Twitter site that provides personalized access to global athletes. Yet with strict IOC tweeting rules, athletes will need to be cautious about how they tweet to avoid being banned from the games for improper remarks (set by the example of Voula Papachristou from Greece).
5) Youtube also has an official London 2012 channel so that viewers can go behind the scenes, watch landmark moments and relive history from prior Olympic Games.

3D Reality
As an official sponsor of the Olympics for 20 years, Panasonic is enabling coverage and broadcast for the first-ever 3D Olympics.

6) Nearly 80% of U.S. households will be receiving over 240 hours of 3D imagery for such events as the opening and closing ceremonies, gymnastics, swimming, track & field and bicycling from your favorite cable, satellite and telco providers. You can also view Olympic venues in a 3D interactive link with 360 degree panoramic photos on a site designed by the Guardian Research team.

A Green Olympics Velodrome

A Greener Olympics
7) The London Olympics site is poised to be the greenest venue to date. With nearly 11 percent of the London Olympics’ energy derived from renewable sources, planners have stretched the imagination to ensure that the facilities, energy, food and waste processes are as sustainable as possible. National Geographic has set a remarkable slide show that displays the many ways sustainability has been achieved in the buildings, land and energy facilities (click here). Even though McDonalds is the official food sponsor, organizers have ensured that 800 concession stands are supplied with environmentally, ethically and locally sourced foods and drinks. This will also mark the first time that zero waste from foods, drinks and packaging will be delivered to landfills for all items are either biodegradable or compostable.
Perhaps the most remarkable feat of these Olympics will be that nearly half of U.S. adults (44%) will be using two or more mobile devices (smartphones, tablets, etc.) to watch video-streamed events during the 2012 Olympics (according to a Harris Interactive poll). Fourteen percent will use three or more devices. With such a large proliferation of mobile products, this is a dramatic shift from how users watched four years ago. What will be your primary way for enjoying the 2012 Olympics?

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*Article first published on Technorati as “2012 Olympics: Mobile, Social, 3D and Green”

Thank You for Listening: Apple REPEATs with EPEAT*

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:32:59 +0000

The customers have asked for “A Greener Apple” and Apple has listened. Bob Mansfield, Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering posted a customer letter on Apple’s website:

“We’ve recently heard from many loyal Apple customers who were disappointed to learn that we had removed our products from the EPEAT rating system. I recognize that this was a mistake. Starting today, all eligible Apple products are back on EPEAT….” (Click here for a complete copy of the letter.)

Apple customers, stockholders, suppliers and partners applaud Apple. Yes, I am one of the many Apple advocates, yet I also believe in corporate social responsibility and sustainability. A few days ago, I asked the question on Technorati “Where is Steve Jobs’ Greener Apple?” Some of the feedback on this site and others seemed to indicate that the commentaries byGreenpeace and others were premature and that the Apple way is the best way. While I didn’t necessarily agree with all that Greenpeace quoted, I did have a call to action.

In a personal response to one of the Technorati readers, I replied on July 11th and painted a different scenario noting: “What is unusual is that a company the size of Apple (largest market capitalization in the world) would normally synchronize PR with a significant action. It took Apple 4 days to explain its action after the media discovered Apple’s removal of all their products from the EPEAT registry. A better approach would have been:

1) Apple proactively announces that it is working with EPEAT and other environmental organizations to develop a comprehensive consumer electronics environmental rating system;

2) Apple maintains its current list of EPEAT certified products yet will no longer submit new products until a comprehensive approach is approved; and

3) Apple strives to maintain its environmental leadership by innovating newer ways to maximize recycling of all Apple products and seek to design with recycling and sustainability in the forefront of required consumer criteria.”

Apple has now completed two out of three of these steps even though (1) and (2) were acknowledged today.

Greenpeace also released their response today via Casey Harrell, IT Analyst for Greenpeace International: “We applaud Apple for ‘thinking green, not greedy’ and listening to its customers’ calls not to pit design needs against the environment. A large and growing number Apple customers have challenged the company to be an environmental leader, whether that be by rejoining EPEAT, eliminating toxic chemicals from its products, or powering its iCloud with renewable energy.”

“We await more details that ensure that future versions of Apple’s computers will be built with easily removable, recyclable and upgradable parts, unlike the current MacBook Pro. These design changes would make for a greener Apple product.”

Apple is back on track and that’s a good sign. After all, it’s only because Steve Jobs’ created an Apple culture that was “Built to Last.”

Do you agree with Apple’s decision to repeat with EPEAT?

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*Article first published on Technorati as “Thank You for Listening: Apple Repeats with EPEAT”

Where is Steve Jobs’ Greener Apple? (Exclusive Greenpeace Comments)*

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 02:20:05 +0000

In a rare Apple letter to consumers titled “A Greener Apple” in 2007, Steve Jobs wrote about Apple’s desires and plans to become greener. He confirmed that Apple had not been very clear about its environmental policies with its customers, shareholders, employees and the industry. By sharing the plans to remove toxic chemicals from its new products and promoting its recycling programs, Apple even received accolades from Greenpeace which responded with an article titled “Tasty News from Apple.” Greenpeace is an international organization that seeks to protect and conserve the environment through individual contributions and global campaigns.

Since then, Apple has been leading the industry by designing environmentally friendly products and accelerating recycling. Five years later, it has taken two steps back when it recently notified the EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) organization that it:

Is withdrawing its products from the EPEAT registry and
Will no longer submit its products to EPEAT for environmental rating.

EPEAT is the leading global environmental rating system for electronic products which lists 29 manufacturers in the U.S. that comply with its stringent environmental requirements. The top 5 manufactures with EPEAT certified products are SONY (326), Samsung (309), HP (221), Lenovo (197) and Dell (171). Apple pulled all 39 of its formerly certified desktop computers, laptops and displays from the EPEAT registry.

How does Greenpeace react to Apple’s retreat from EPEAT? Below are comments from David Pomerantz, a spokesperson for Greenpeace International:
“Apple is pulling out of EPEAT so it can make some products in a way that’s less recyclable. In doing so, Apple is pitting design against the environment, and choosing design as the priority. That’s a false choice, and Apple should know better: historically Apple has been a leader in designing products with the environment in mind.”

“Customers who have expressed their concerns to Apple in recent months about the energy it’s using to power its iCloud will be disconcerted to hear that Apple is now backsliding on making its products recyclable. Apple can resume its position of leadership on the environment, but right now it seems to be incorrectly betting that people don’t care.”

Greenpeace still has their “Green My Apple” campaign continuing for those consumers who want to take action and make Apple “green to the core.” Click here for more details.

What’s also disconcerting is that Apple has chosen to remain silent about this action. At the time of this writing, Apple has not returned any calls seeking comments about this issue from various media inquiries. Yet businesses, government agencies and schools who have been using the EPEAT registry as a guideline for purchasing computers have started to take notice. They need to determine if any exceptions to their published EPEAT procurement rules can be applied; i.e., can they still buy Apple products? Many Fortune 500 companies require procurement sources to be EPEAT certified and the US government requires 95% of the electronics it purchases to be on the EPEAT registry. Only a few miles away from Apple’s HQ, the city of San Francisco can no longer buy Apple computers because they are not EPEAT certified. Apple’s reversal of course may lead to an adverse effect on its computer sales across the country.

With nearly 700 patents awarded to Apple in 2011, the innovators at Apple can invent products that continue to be environmentally friendly. Alternatively, Apple can create new ways to recycle products that have never been recycled before. As Steve Jobs noted in 2007: “All the e-waste we collect in North America is processed in the U.S., and nothing is shipped overseas for disposal.” It’s time for Apple to shed some light on its revised practices and reassure its stakeholders that it wants to walk the green talk. Otherwise it will need to quickly revise its Environmental Reports site that states ” The way our products are manufactured, used and recycled represents the largest percentage of Apple’s total greenhouse gas emissions. That’s why we design them for better environmental performance.”

What’s your view? Would you buy Apple products if they’re not green?

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* Article first published on Technorati as “Where is Steve Jobs’ Greener Apple? (Exclusive Greenpeace Comments)”

Made in the USA…and Eco-Friendly Wireless Products

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sun, 01 Jul 2012 21:05:02 +0000

Take a look around at the gadgets you use and find one that has been “Made in the USA.” A few readers may claim that “Designed by Apple in California” would be the closest we can get. Yet with Google’s announcement that the Nexus Q streaming media player is “Designed and Manufactured in the USA,” it’s time to scan the wireless landscape and see why we can feel a bit more patriotic. With the American economy in focus, it’s time to play Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” (video) and highlight a growing number of wireless accessories that are Made in America. So why not Buy American?
What’s even more difficult is to build eco-friendly accessories that are Made in the USA. Here are seven wireless accessories “Made in America” that span from coast to coast with three of them being eco-friendly:

iCache Geode

1) iCache Geode: Shortly after CTIA, I wrote about the debut of the iCache Geode, the first practical e-wallet that is an integrated mobile payment solution within a protective iPhone case. You can simply and securely store credit card, loyalty card, gift card and membership card info on your iPhone and protect it with biometric security. The Geode officially launched at a rockin’ BFD concert in Mountain View, California on June 2nd. Retailing for $199, it’s worth more than its weight in gold for the convenience because you can use it everywhere you shop – no NFC or specialized method of payment is required. And no one can use your iPhone if it’s misplaced or stolen because no one else has your unique fingerprint. With headquarters in Charleston, SC and manufacturing in Lexington, KY, this innovation will make a huge impact in the mobile payment world well beyond the USA.

iPad Extreme Portfolio (G-Form)

2) G-Form Accessories: Responsible for creating over 300 jobs within the New England area in the last 6 months, G-Form expanded from making protective athletic wear to producing impact protection accessories for iPhones, iPads and 7” tablets. Their iPhone and iPad cases are so eye-catching and durable that I couldn’t pry the Extreme Grid case from my son’s hands when I asked him to test it on his iPhone. The moment his high school friends saw it, they wanted to buy one. All of the protective cases are designed and manufactured in the USA with headquarters in Providence, RI and manufacturing facilities in Massachusetts. What’s equally innovative is that the core material that provides the protection, known as RPT (Reactive Protection Technology) is a proprietary, patented material that is also Made in America. If you’re curious to see how strong their cases are, watch the video of the iPhone X-Protect case surviving the 82 MPH hockey slapshot or the video of the iPad Extreme Edge case enduring a 100,000’+ fall from space near Area 51. With prices ranging from $34.99 to $89.99, this is the next best think to insurance.

FlyGrip

3) FlyGrip: Frustrated that he could not use his smartphone with one hand, Michael Karmatz, a passionate and dedicated entrepreneur who was born and raised in New York, came up with the idea for FlyGrip. If you are constantly multitasking and glued to your phone, FlyGrip allows you to free up one hand and multi-task efficiently. After attaching the accessory to the back of your phone or phone case with an adhesive, just slip two fingers into the secure and comfortable grip. Most phone cases can be used with FlyGrip as long as the back is smooth and made of a hard plastic or aluminum. It’s engineered to double as a kickstand in both portrait and landscape viewing angles, and its low profile takes up almost no room at all. With the corporate office in New York City and manufacturing just outside the Big Apple, you can even opt for a complimentary phone case at an MSRP of $29.95.

Feinger

4) Feinger (eco-friendly): Manufactured in central Indiana, Feinger products provide Hands Freedom™ so you will never drop your mobile device again. It’s a classic startup story: the founders created the product after watching two commuters in downtown Chicago bump into each other and shatter their mobile phones. The Feinger pops and locks onto smartphones, cell phones, gaming devices and virtually all other handheld devices in order to prevent gadgets from dropping. At an MSRP of $15.95, it’s a reasonable value for the utility, although if you already have a mobile phone case, you may want to check with their support team to see if the Feinger can work on the case rather than directly attaching it to your device. They also have other accessories that complement the Feinger (unimount, sleeve, purse attachment, and lanyard) that range from $6.95 to $17.95. A green plus: Feinger is also conscientious about conserving America’s natural resources: all products and packaging are made from recycled plastics and paper.

Rev 360 (Hub Innovations)

5) Hub Innovations Rev360 for iPads (eco-friendly):Designed, engineered and manufactured in Portland, Oregon, the Rev 360 case is made from recycled and recyclable materials. With a simple, functional and durable design, the semi-flexible silicon case has an integrated stand with a rotating disk that allows you to effortlessly spin the iPad 360 degrees to switch back and forth between portrait and landscape views. The founders didn’t want just another commodity iPad accessory. They wanted something ergonomically and elegantly designed to revolutionize the efficiency of iPads being integrated into the vast majority of Fortune 500 companies. With prices ranging from $49.95 to $69.95, Hub Innovations has targeted the healthcare, education, real estate and business markets.

Wrapsol

6) Wrapsol: What do Formula 1 race cars and Wrapsol protective film users have in common? Both use shock absorbing, puncture resistant transparent material to protect their valuables. Wrapsol is considered by many to be the leader in the bubble-free dry application shields for iPhones and iPads. Their shields are more puncture resistant (twice as strong), abrasion resistant and thinner than the leading competitor. If you don’t believe this, take a quick look at this remarkable video demo doing things with sharp objects that I would never do to my iPhone or iPad (it makes me cringe to watch it). With a portfolio of solutions that include the iPhone, iPad and other gadgets, Wrapsol shields range from $14.95 to $29.95.

KidSafe (TRTLBOT)

7) TRTLBOT (eco-friendly): The TRTL BOT team lives and breathes the three R’s: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Their Los Angeles office is lit using passive solar cells. The turtle logo represents ecology, protection, functionality and distinct style, characteristics that are designed within all of the TRTL BOT products. There is at least 1 recycled plastic bottle in each one of their iPhone cases. They’re best known for the KidSafe case for the iPhone because the Home Button can be blocked. iPhone cases are priced from $19.95 to $29.95 and they’re working on the launch of a hard shell case for the iPad targeted toward young kids and the Education market. All of their packaging is made with recycled paper from locally sourced paper mills. Products are shipped using biodegradable, reusable mailers. Additionally, TRTL BOT has joined forces with One Percent for the Planet, donating 1% of their sales to over 2,250 environmental groups all over the world.

Why Buy American?

Today more than half of everything we buy is made outside of the United States. Yet with the innovations above and more in the pipeline, you can help turn the tide. If every American spent about $20 on Made in the USA wireless accessories, it would create 60,000 new jobs. So think of the impact you can have if you Buy American. For more on other Made in America companies, check out this Resource Guide published by ABC News. Tell us more: are there other wireless accessories that you use which are Made in the USA?

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The Green Wave: 5 Tech Trends That Will Accelerate E-Cycling*

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sat, 23 Jun 2012 21:32:19 +0000

There’s a subtle part of Apple’s WWDC that many analysts overlooked, yet it will have an ongoing impact on how we use and reuse consumer electronics. Within a few seconds after showing the new MacBook Pro feature set, Philip Schiller, Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing at Apple, showed theEnvironmental Checklist. This was the first time in Apple’s product announcement history that environmentally friendly attributes were placed on an equal footing with newly released product features. We can expect this for the iPhone 5. More importantly, when Apple speaks, consumers should listen. Apple has been the king of consumer experience and they have set the stage for how we’ll behave differently in the future: they expect consumers to e-cycle. According to the EPA, less than 20 percent of all electronics are recycled and the vast majority are disposed of, mostly in landfills. It’s time that we e-cycle.

Apple is an integral part of a significant eco-shift in the consumer electronics (CE) industry, yet it’s part of a larger Green Wave. Here are 5 Tech Trends that will accelerate e-cycling:

1) Apple and Samsung lead the CE industry: Since I wrote about the Battle of the Green Giants last October, Apple and Samsung have accelerated their race to be the greenest CE company in the world. Each is convinced that green initiatives will help drive consumers’ choices and brand loyalty. Since Apple and Samsung drive 55% of global smartphone shipments, they will continue to drive eco-friendly attributes of other CE manufacturers’ products.

2) Retailers are Increasing Incentives:Best Buy is the first retailer who initiated e-cycling incentives for consumers and have been regularly promoting their Trade-In/Trade-Up Program through recent commercials. Apple, Office Depot and Staplesare other retailers that have in-store buyback and e-cycling programs. In addition, all of the major carriers offer their own e-cycling incentives for mobile phones. AT&T, Verizonand Sprint offer cash back via e-gift cards, yet Verizon and Sprint also offer donation options for community service programs. Although T-Mobile has an e-cycling initiative, it’s not clear whether there’s any cash incentive – only the comfort that you are helping sustain a greener planet. You can expect to see more retailers join the e-cycling bandwagon to stay competitive.

3) ReCommerce is Real: Recommerce is the process of reverse commerce or recovering products through a ReCommerce e-tailer that will purchase your old electronics in order to reuse or recycle them. There is one ReCommerce site - uSell.com - that is the Kayak.com of CE buyback websites because it compares cash offers and user reviews from multiple buyback sites so that users can get the best offer for each device. I quickly tested a buyback scenario for a 16GB iPhone 4 on uSell.com and three other sites that do not offer comparison offers yet do provide recommerce services: Gazelle, NextWorth and YouRenew. In all cases, uSell provided an offer that was 7% – 26% better than the standalone sites. Other device buyback scenarios I tested yielded consistent results ranging from 10 to 25% better offers on uSell than standalone sites. So you can save time and yield more by leveraging uSell, the ReCommerce aggregator.

4) CTIA has set new goals: During the openingKeynote Session for CTIA 2012, Patrick Riordan, the new CTIA Chairman as well as CEO of Cellcom, announced “A Commitment to Sustainability by 2015:”

Increase e-cycling collection rate by 20% and
Utilize recycled plastic for the phone housings of 25% of each company’s device portfolio.

That which get measured will get managed, so all CTIA members will be striving toward those goals. These new goals supplement an earlier CTIA campaign called “Go Wireless, Go Green.”

5) The Growth Rate of Green Cellphones is Significantly Increasing: Last month Juniper Research released a new report that forecasts more than a 10X growth rate in green cellphone sales worldwide over the next 5 years: from 31 million in 2012 to 392 million in 2017. Over half of the nearly 400 million to be sold in 2017 will be green smartphones. Green handsets are defined as those that are free of hazardous chemicals and contain more than 50% of recyclable materials. In order for cellphone manufacturers to differentiate themselves from the competition, more will need to focus on the environmental impact of all phases of the product life cycle process – especially how to eliminate the grave (through e-cycling) in what CE manufacturers used to see as a “cradle to grave” life cycle.

Tell us: Are you 100% committed toward e-cycling in the future? If not, what would it take for you to do so? (Check out the EPA website for more options available for e-cycling.)

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* Article first published on Technorati as “The Green Wave: Five Tech Trends That Will Accelerate E-Cycling”

Why LG’s Greenest Smartphones Should Be Greener*

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 15:30:31 +0000

LG Optimus Elite (Source: LGE)

In honor of Earth Day, Sprint announced that it will be launching LG’s greenest smartphones for 2012 on April 22nd: the LG Viper™ 4G LTE, the first Sprint 4G LTE with eco-friendly features and LG Optimus Elite™. While both smartphones represent advances in the sustainability of smartphones, LG has room to grow greener with other eco-friendly features that would be easy to implement.

Nearly one year ago, I wrote about the “Top 10 Features that Green Smartphones Must Have” that provides a useful benchmark for how the latest LG smartphones succeed and a roadmap for additional features that would benefit consumers and yield a greener planet. LG leads the industry by providing seven of the Top 10 Features in its newest smartphones with:

Carbon-free certification that offsets the carbon footprint of the phone’s full life-cycle;
Zero use of hazardous chemicals: the RoHS compliance ensures that there are no hazardous materials such as PVC, phthalates, halogens and mercury;
ULE Platinum Certification which is the highest level of environmental performance recognized in the sustainability requirements published by the Underwriters’ Laboratories;
A Near zero energy charger that exceeds the EC Code of Conduct on energy efficiency with no-load consumption: it only consumes 0.03 watts of power when plugged into a wall socket without being connected to a phone;
100% recycled and recyclable packaging printed with soy inks and engineered with glueless construction;
Green Applications: Sprint’s GreenID pack is the only eco-friendly bundle of applications available from any US carrier and provides a wide range of apps, widgets and mobile content to help you live more sustainably; and
A Trade-in Recycling Program: Sprint’s Buyback Program allows you to reduce waste and recycle devices by earning credit for your old phone (independent of which carrier it is from).

Three additional green features that LG and other smartphone suppliers need to provide to improve sustainability include:

100% recyclable housing made from 100% recycled material: Motorola created the world’s first mobile phone (Renew) made using plastics comprised of recycled water bottles in 2009. The LG Optimus Elite is comprised of 50% recycled plastics;
Eco-Friendly accessories: Any accessories provided (charger, ear buds, etc.) need to be made with 100% recycled and recyclable materials; and
A Smart-home ecosystem option: At CES 2012, Google’s Eric Schmidt shared plans about a connected home where every device and appliance would be connected via an Android-based platform like Android@home (fast forward to the 43rd minute on the YouTube video overview for a demo).

What other green features would you like to see in the future of sustainable smartphones?

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* Article first published on Technorati as “Why LG’s Greenest Smartphone Should Be Greener.”

Trash Tech: Should Americans Be “Taxed” for Food Waste? *

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 14:28:51 +0000

With $43 billion of food wasted in the U.S. each year ($590 of food wasted per family), it may be time to start the same type of country-wide food waste “tax” that will be launching in Korea this year. Using RFID tags (Radio Frequency Identification) technology, Korean utility companies have created an ingenious high-tech system that can charge variable rate fees depending on the weight of the food waste collected in each resident’s containers.

This revision will be relatively easy to implement because city dwellers within Seoul, Korea already separate out food waste into special containers. Utilizing disposal bags that are tagged with RFIDs will allow the utility companies to link the user’s residence, phone number and account information to the amount (weight) of the food waste being disposed during each collection period. Thus, billing becomes flexible: those users who waste more food will pay higher fees: a “Pay-As-You-Throw” (PAYT) system.

The Korean government’s goal is to reduce food waste by 20% in 2013 which would:

save $144M in food waste processing costs;
save $4.4B of consumer food costs that wouldn’t be purchased and disposed (because consumers would tend to buy what they need); and
reduce greenhouse gas emissions that would be the equivalent of removing over 243,000 cars from use each year.

Smaller cities such as Gimcheon have already piloted the program and have been able to reduce their food waste by 30%. A pilot program will launch in Seoul this year before the new system is implemented for the entire country by 2013.

There is already a growing movement of PAYT systems throughout the United States. Eighteen states have implemented PAYT waste management programs with 26% of all communities participating and benefiting from:

Environmental sustainability: All cities have reported reductions in waste and an increase in recycling;
Economic Sustainability: residents are empowered to take charge of their waste management expenses rather than relying on municipalities to do so:
Equity: Because residents pay only for what they throw away, those households that recycle and prevent waste no longer subsidize their neighbors’ wastefulness.

Yet the #1 strategy for reducing waste and fostering a greener planet would be to eat less and buy less. Would you support a “Food Waste Tax” or Pay-As-You-Throw pricing?

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* Article first published on Technorati as “Trash Tech: Should Americans Be ‘Taxed’ for Food Waste?”

Time for Green Consumers to DWYSYWD

Ed Valdez, EcoLeader — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 16:07:22 +0000

U.S. consumers may talk the green talk, but do they walk the green walk? Not yet. Although nearly two-thirds of Americans want to protect the environment, less than one-third actually do. According to the latest Survey of the American Consumers, less than half as many American adults (31%) purchase green products than those who say that protecting the environment is very important (65%). Today we have many more green choices than five years ago, yet old habits are hard to break. Every day we choose between paper or plastic, organic versus non-organic foods, turning off non-essential lights or leaving them on, recycling or filling landfills and many other options. So what would it take to DWYSYWD (Do What You Say You Would Do) and walk the green walk?

If you poll your colleagues or neighborhood friends, you’re likely to find a similar list of green products they purchased during the last 12 months as the Survey of the American Consumers Survey list show below:

Yet why would so few Americans (31%) purchase any type of environmentally-friendly products even though the vast majority believes it’s the right thing to do?

1) There’s No Price Parity for Green Products: Nearly all of us would choose a green product if it were offered at the same price as a non-green product. However, in the same survey, only 52% of adults are willing to pay a premium for green products and agreed with the statement: “I am willing to pay more for a product that is environmentally safe.” Different package sizes make it difficult to calculate if a non-organic product unit cost is on par with the unit cost of an organic product without having a math wizard by your side. Even if store price labels provide unit costs on the shelf, you often need a magnifying glass to determine if one unit price is better than another.

2) It Takes More Time and Effort to Identify Green Products: Without a resident chemist and speed reader in every store, it takes a lot of time to understand the difference between green products and non-green products. For example, there are subtle yet important distinctions for recycled packaging: some use mixes of 10%, 50% or 100% of recycled contents. In addition, even if a product’s manufacturer may claim that its main (active) ingredients are environmentally safe, there may be other potentially toxic chemicals (inactive ingredients like dyes) that could harm the environment. So when consumers choose green products, they choose the brands and messaging that are easier to understand. Marketing pundits know that each consumer takes only a few seconds to make a purchasing decision based more on package design rather than on product features.

3) Green Brands Don’t Always Lead to Green Products: In a separate survey published by Cone Communications, 56% of consumers don’t believe companies’ green claims. 80% of Americans don’t believe manufacturers are addressing all of the environmental impacts of a product. As many as 77% of shoppers would boycott a product if they ever discovered that certain green claims were false or misleading. Because consumers have become more environmentally savvy, they’re starting to focus on companies that make green products rather than branding them as green. The Law of Authenticity will drive companies to ensure that they close the gap between perception and reality. Organizations like Triple Pundit will continue to influence the market forces in favor of green consumers so companies improve their products to meet the three key green value propositions: people, planet, and profit.

Despite these reasons for citing light green consumer behavior, we can take some simple advice from an African proverb: each one, teach one. All consumers who walk the green walk have a responsibility to teach their friends and neighbors the merits of being green. As many great leaders have professed, “Be the change you want to see in the world.” The best long-term changes in the world have originated from individuals influencing neighborhoods, neighborhoods influencing cities, city leaders influencing state/regional leaders, state/regional leadership influencing a country and coalitions of countries improving the world for a greener planet. Now is the time for green consumers to DWYSYWD and each one, teach one.

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