TURNING BOMBS INTO BEAUTIFUL FEATURES
Company: Purple Buddha Project
Location: Cambodia
Discovered by: Tom Poole
Supported by: Professor Ron Fry
A global jewelry company employs local skilled artisans to make jewelry out of bullet shells and bomb casings, symbols of the country’s past struggles. Purple Buddha Project provides a fair, sustainable income stream to artisans and donates meals to Cambodian school children.
TRIPLING CROPS AND REDUCING COSTS
Company: SunCulture
Location: Nairobi, Kenya
Discovered by: Joseph Woodard
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
SunCulture provides poor farmers with a solar-powered water pump, empowering them to increase their annual crop yield with a lasting solution. They can pay off their solar irrigation kit in two years rather than spending $200 per month on petrol pump fuel.
CONNETING CUSTOMERS TO ORGANIC CLOTHING
Company: Shift to Nature
Location: Burnside, Australia
Discovered by: Ebrahim Salehramsari
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
Shift to Nature was the first Australian ecommerce company to offer ethical and organic clothing from multiple retailers on one website. They’ve since evolved to partner with freelance designers and manufacturers who work virtually and adhere to global organic certifications.
EDUCATING INCARCERATED ADULTS
EDOVO created a reward-based educational program inmates can use on tablets they rent for $2 per day. They complete educational activities they otherwise don’t have access to, and they’re rewarded with games, music and videos.
PROVIDING ECO-FRIENDLY, AFFORDABLE, HIGH-PERFORMANCE MENSTRUAL PADS
Company: SHE INNOVATES
Location: Rwanda
Discovered by: Lauren Nelson
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
By empowering women to attend school and work during menstruation with the affordable and well-designed Go! pad, SHE28 reduces women’s health taboos. It also provides economic opportunities to local farmers and production workers.
PROVIDING EASY-TRANSPORT CLEAN WATER
Company: Nottingham Spirk
Location: Nepal
Discovered by: Yan Wang
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
PackH2O, a collapsible and rip-resistant purifying water backpack, is fast to fill, affordable, easy to distribute to remote locations and ergonomically designed for carrying long distances. A spout reduces secondary water pollution, and the inner liner can be sanitized by sunlight.
PROVIDING AFFORDABLE AND TRANSPORTABLE SOLAR LIGHT
Luci, an inflatable solar light that can fit in your hand, provides the developing world with an affordable alternative to expensive kerosene lamps, and the developed world with a clean-energy transportable light.
PRODUCING SUSTAINANLE, FAIR-TRADE COFFEE
Company: Cafe Nor
Location: Matagalpa, Nicaragua
Discovered by: James Corrigan
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
An economically viable, and socially and environmentally sustainable coffee company, Café Nor helps farmers improve production, sustainability and certification. The company gives farmers above fair trade prices, and farmers access to international business through micro-financing, creating opportunities for their entire communities.
EMBEDDING SUSTAINABILITY AT THE FOUNDATION
Company: Forest City
Location: Cleveland, U.S.
Discovered by: Nikolay Kanazirev
Supported by: Professor Scot Lowry
This commercial real estate company has integrated sustainable design and business practices by refocusing its strategy and operations around sustainability. They developed a new model for sustainable real estate development, which can be used across the high-impact industry.
PROVIDING PHOTOGRAPHY FOR CHALLENGED POPULATIONS
Company: Baravom Studio
Location: Seoul, South Korea
Discovered by: Hoh Kim
Supported by: Professor David Cooperrider
Inspired by Tom’s Shoes, Baravom provides free photography services for disabled, poor and elderly people with the profits they receive from corporate, government and non-profit organization photoshoots.
DELIVERING ENERGY-EFFICIENT SOLUTIONS TO BUILDING SECTORS
Company: Elithis
Location: Dijon, France
Discovered by: Steven Paulovich
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
Elithis creates positive-energy buildings, By doing so at a standard cost, the company leads the way in creating sustainable residential buildings, districts, and cities. Their first building doesn’t need air conditioning, uses a solar shield, and produces more energy than it uses.
DISTILLING RUM SUSTAINABLY
Company: Serralles Rum Distillery
Location: Ponce, Puerto Rico
Discovered by: Jonathan Simpkins
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
Serralles developed a sustainable process for all steps of their distillery operations. They recycle cardboard into woodchips and mulch; sell the CO2 that comes from fermentation to local soda companies; clean their waste water for local irrigation; and use their bio-gas productions to fuel their boilers.
REDUDUCING SOLAR GLARE TO SAVE ENERGY
Company: View Dynamic Glass
Location: California, US (Worldwide)
Discovered by: Brad Moore
Supported by: Professor David Cooperrider
This glass producer reduces light transmission through glass with an electrically-charged micro-coating that rejects 91% of the sun’s energy. It can be applied at a large scale and significantly reduces HVAC energy needs. It also improves employee production, student test performances, infection rates in hospitals, and patient recovery speeds.
CLEANING OCEANS WITH SKATEBOARDS & SUNGLASSES
Company: Boreo
Location: Santiago, Chile
Discovered by: Anuj Agrawal
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
Bureo recycles plastic waste from the ocean into skateboards and sunglasses, designed with inspiration from sea creatures. They use the cradle-to-cradle life cycle and have a net positive use of water and energy, which led to their certification by the Living Future Institute.
HEALING THE EARTH THROUGH MEALS
Company: Pure and Whole
Location: Shanghai, China
Discovered by: Hammad Ahmed, Yunfan Xiao, Joseph Woodard, Abdulla Albassam
Supported by: Professor Scot Lowry
As the first vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai, this popular restaurant uses its passion for the transformation of humanity to provide a great-tasting plant-based menu, clean environment, and friendly service. Customers leave feeling physically and mentally invigorated via sustainably delivered vitamins and fibers.
FINANCIAL CONSULTING FOR NONPROFITS
Company: Oliver Wyman
Location: London, U.K.
Discovered by: Kristine Priemer
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
This financial firm launched its Social Impact program to help local nonprofits that support global economic development optimize their businesses and improve their operations. Social Impact maximizes the economic impact nonprofits have on the communities they serve.
PIONEERING THE SUSTAINABLE CARIBBEAN AIRPORT
Company: Shift to Nature
Location: Burnside, Australia
Discovered by: Ebrahim Salehramsari
Supported by: Professor Chris Laszlo
Shift to Nature was the first Australian ecommerce company to offer ethical and organic clothing from multiple retailers on one website. They’ve since evolved to partner with freelance designers and manufacturers who work virtually and adhere to global organic certifications.