In an ideal collaboration the International Sustainability Club (ISC) at the leading school for sustainable business, Presidio Graduate School, partnered with Zawadisha to analyze and provide insights for Kenyan women’s entrepreneurship in environmentally conscious products.
Zawadisha is a non-profit organization whose mission is to empower, entrust and expand opportunities for women through micro-lending, preventative healthcare, and education. Continue reading
A year ago I started a project to reduce the energy consumption in my condo. I’ve gone through two keys steps already (Measuring the energy I currently use, and taking steps to reduce the energy used for Heating (HVAC)). My next main area of focus, was on Lighting. Lighting accounts for approximately 20% of energy use, both in residential and commercial infrastructure. In order to reduce the energy used by lighting, I implemented two key upgrades:
So what exactly did the initiatives achieve last year? The total energy use for 2014 was 5179 kWh – while in 2013 it was 6484 kWh – well below the average household electricity consumption of 12,000 kWh.
I achieved an energy reduction of 20% in 2014!
Let’s take a more in-depth look at monthly energy use, starting with 2013 and moving into 2014. As you can see, below, the most notable difference was in the winter months (January, February, November, December). This makes sense, as last year I focused on improving Heating.
Additionally, during 2014, I welcomed a roommate in the fall. Sharing a space is a great way to further reduce your personal footprint, as a good portion of the energy used is shared (heating, cooling, ventilation, refrigeration, hot water etc).
I would love to hear what your household is doing to reduce energy and/or report your yearly energy use for 2014, below! Make this your New Year’s resolution and create fun and engaging ways to get your household involved!
Step 4: Plug Loads…
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I had the honor of talking recently with Erin Meezan, the Vice President of Sustainability for Interface. Her passion for her work and the positive impact on the large breadth of people touched was truly inspiring.
Interface are leaders in the industry showing that fully integrated sustainability is not merely a theoretical idea, but can be tangibly accomplished and perpetuated within a business. They transparently report on their ecological footprint, including progress in: Energy, Climate, Waste, and Transportation.
Looking for a way to reduce the environmental impact of nylon even further, they launched Net-Works.
“Net-Works enables local residents to collect discarded nets, which wreak havoc with the marine ecosystem, and sell them back into a global supply chain – giving those destructive, broken nets a second life as beautiful and long-lasting carpet tile. The product of an unlikely partnership, the Net-Works programme is proof that when business, conservation, and communities innovate together, we can create positive, sustainable change.”
This initiative is not only lowering their impact, but also infusing local economies, while helping to clean up coastal environments. In the first 2 years, Net-Works has expanded to reach to 24 communities, with over 4,000 people benefiting from alternative income, and more than 35 metric tonnes of waste nets have been salvaged and turned into carpet tiles.
I can only begin to imagine how this world would change, if more companies looked for win-win solutions that not only positively impacted their bottom line – but also people and the world we live in.
Can you think of innovative win-win solutions you could apply to the work you are currently doing? Please share below!
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~ L to the Aura ~ 