Waste not, want not
At this time of over indulgence at the table, it is timely to write about the waste of food within and across the agri-business sector. Simply stated, waste is an inefficiency and many businesses are trying to reduce or eliminate waste as a cost saving measure. Read More
Food & Agri Businesses and Sustainability
For food and agri-businesses sustainability is looming large on the near horizon and this can represent an opportunity or a threat depending on the strategic approach the management takes. Read More
Food Labelling in Europe
The Eco Label Index currently lists 146 food labels globally and there are plenty more besides I am sure – no Irish labels are in the index, for instance! It is a bewildering range of labels and must be confusing for the consumer. What are the differences between ‘organic’ and ‘bio’; carbon neutral and carbon free; fair trade and fair labour practices; or many Read More
European Green Building Councils
SustainEd has been awarded a contract for developing training courses for the European Regional Network of Green Building Councils. The remit is to design training Read More
Energy Audits
Businesses regularly examine their processes in order to identify weaknesses, waste, and ways of becoming more productive and profitable. That’s exactly what a sustainability audit entails. Read More
SustaiNext EU Summit
A Summit aimed at promoting the next generation of sustainability understanding amongst business leaders was held in Dublin City University (DCU) on 11th & 12th October. SustainEd was proud to be involved with helping to make this Sunnit happen. This was organised by the US based Sustainability Collaborative Read More
Shared value – Sharing Values – a must for sustainable business
A more sustainable future will require that we devise ways of developing and sharing value. Many of the problems we face are not ones that can be addressed by an organisation on its own. We hear a lot of talk now about stakeholders Read More
A recession or a crisis?
There is a real difficulty in starting a business in Ireland right now. The almost complete sense of hopelessness that persists across all sectors of society. There is a sense that the answer is no! No matter what the question is. This comes from the top, the lack of leadership, Read More
Quality and Sustainability
There are some similarities between the introduction of Quality Systems into the workplace and the development of Sustainability. When the idea of quality was first introduced it was the remit of the production department and only later did it spread across all departments and become part of the way that business is done. Currently, sustainability is placed Read More
Natural Capitalism – a book review
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution. (1999) Hawkens, P. Lovins, A. Lovins, H. Published by Little Brown & Company.
Natural Capitalism is a book published in 1999 that was co-authored by Paul Hawkens, Amory & Hunter Lovins. It was a best seller and very influential book that popularised the idea that the current model of industrial capitalism was flawed in how it accounted for Read More