
Water
More stories
-
It’s a School, It’s a Soccer Field, It’s a Water Harvesting Community Center
What do you get when you combine sports, community, education, and resource reclamation? If you’re PITCHAfrica, you get a combination soccer (football) field, school, and community center that also functions as a water harvesting and storage facility, otherwise known as a Waterbank school building. “Our design includes four classrooms with protected gardens for food cultivation, […] More
-
Can You Live on 4 Liters of Water a Day?
Those of us in the first world don’t tend to think twice about our water usage, and unless we’re on a backpacking trip or in a dry camp, or adhering to some other self-imposed rationing, we’re probably likely to use quite a bit of water everyday. In fact, in the US, the average rate of […] More
-
-
Companies we love: Niagara Conservation leads the way in water and energy efficiency for homes
Often, it seems the news is full of companies doing bad things. Other times, it seems that their CSR efforts are largely just greenwashing (the act of advertising themselves as doing something good, when in reality, the big picture is still really pretty bad). But there are companies we love out there, and this series […] More
-
How Much Water is in Your Beer?
Based on a comment I received in regards to last week’s article “Responsibilities of the Alcohol Industry”, I thought I’d follow up with an article addressing how much water is actually used to make beer. Although that article really looked at the social responsibility of alcohol companies, I did mention more than once that beer […] More
-
Responsibilities of the Alcohol Industry
There has been increasing discussion recently as to the role of corporate social responsibility throughout the alcohol industry. Of course CSR policies can and should be applied to companies throughout the private sector although my guess is that most people’s first thoughts don’t shoot to the beer, wine and spirits industry. Whether policies in that […] More
-
Green Stats: Can’t We Tell Them Without the Agenda?
I just downloaded The State of the Paper Industry: Monitoring the Indicators of Environmental Performance, put out by the Steering Committee of the Environmental Paper Network. On the surface, the numbers sound impressive and scary. The big bad paper industry needs to be reigned in for the good of the planet. Old growth forests are […] More
-
Tainted Water Still a Concern in Pennsylvania Gas Drilling in 2011
I have written before about the Marcellus Shale Debate and water issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing. But a recent report from David B. Caruso of the Associated Press drawing attention to the weak regulation in Pennsylvania surrounding wastewater disposal produced by natural gas drilling really opened my eyes to some of the dangers facing Pennsylvania’s waterways. Caruso […] More
-
Water Constraints among Investor Risks from Unproven Fuel Extraction Technologies
A recent report from Ceres details the risks to investors of the unproven extraction technologies of oil shale and coal-to-liquid fuels, according to the SocialFunds.com press release. The report, entitled Investor Risks from Development of Oil Shale and Coal-to-Liquids, details a number of risks with both of these technologies that are not new, but are considered “still in the […] More
-
Let it Snow? Sustainable Snow Salt and Removal
I’ll admit, I love snow; and Pittsburgh winters never to fail to deliver on the fluffy white stuff. But this week, as I got my first taste of what is sure to be a long white winter and nearly took a spill on on my un-salted sidewalk; I started to wonder how sustainable that snow […] More
-
Heineken’s ‘Brewing a Better Future’ 2020 Sustainability goals target Water and CO2
Heineken’s “Brewing a Better Future” 2020 sustainability goals focus on CO2 and Water reduction according to the recent CSRwire press release. On November 25th at the annual European Food and Drink Industry conference, Mr. Didier Debrosse, Regional President of Heineken Western Europe, highlighted the progress being made to achieve the company’s ‘Brewing a Better Future’ […] More
-
The Global Water Crisis: A conversation with Maude Barlow at SRI in the Rockies.
SAN ANTONIO, TX: How fitting that my last post before arriving at SRI in the Rockies was about Bloomberg adding water data as part of its ESG offering; when the conference opened on the importance of water, protecting the water commons, and what it means for the socially responsible investor. After the official conference welcome […] More
-
Water Creeping to the Top of the Sustainability List
In the guest post below, Julie Urlaub, Founder and Managing Partner at Taiga Company, discusses the challenges of managing our world’s water resources. by Julie Urlaub “Water, water, everywhere, nor any drop to drink”. Taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem “Rime of the Ancient Mariner”, the author describes a man dying of thirst surrounded by […] More