Last week Ray Anderson, CEO of Interface carpet (click here for 2nd Green Revolution’s tag) passed away. Anderson was perhaps the most notable example of a CEO who converted his company to sustainable business practices. Inspired by Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce, Anderson became a pioneer in minimizing waste, recycling and reusing products, and [...]
Posts Tagged ‘Ecology of Commerce’
The Third (and Final?) Environmental Movement
April 17th, 2011 
Eric Wilson I recently read the following quotation, “the problem with history is that it repeats itself.” Although I cannot recall who said it, the point is that we need to learn from the past, not just repeat it. In a recent discussion with a co-worker, I started to think about the ebb and flow of environmental [...]
There Is No Energy Crisis
January 22nd, 2011 Eric Wilson 
As part of a follow up to a post the other day titled “The Reality of Physics” comes this piece. While none of us here at 2nd Green Revolution were alive during the “Energy Crisis” of the early 1970s that stemmed from the oil embargo, I can confidently tell you that there is no energy [...]
Posted in Behavior, Eric Wilson, Featured Posts, Smart Grid 
Tags: Coal, Denmark, Ecology of Commerce, Energy, Natural Gas, Necessary Revolution, Nuclear, Oil Consumption, Smart Meter 
No Comments »Sweden and Denmark Lead the Way Toward Energy Independence
December 16th, 2010 Eric Wilson Look to the Scandinavian countries and you are likely to see a whole host of sustainable measures underway. The city of Malmo in Sweden has been promoting itself as the “Sustainable City,” with its goal of climate neutrality in 10 years and 100% renewable energy by 2030. Watch the video below for a brief piece [...]
Novozyme: Using Nature to Design the Future
October 3rd, 2010 Eric Wilson Novozyme, the Danish offshoot of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk, has begun using naturally occurring enzymes from bacteria and fungus to “replace traditional chemicals or additives and help to save water and energy in a variety of production processes.” The company has used biological based innovations to grow its product line. “With over 700 products used [...]
Posted in Business, Eric Wilson, Sustainability Tags: Bio-fuels, Chemicals, Ecology of Commerce No Comments »Greenbuild 2010 Early Bird Registration Closes Thursday (9/17)
September 14th, 2010 Eric Wilson This is a brief post to let those planning to attend Greenbuild 2010 know that the early registration closes this Thursday, September, 17th. Chicago will be the host city for the 2010 exposition. It also hosted the conference in 2007, followed by Boston and Phoenix the past two years. This year the conference will take [...]
Posted in Conferences, Eric Wilson, Green Building Tags: Ecology of Commerce, Greenbuild Expo No Comments »First Thoughts on Natural Capitalism
June 14th, 2010 Eric Wilson Usually I skip the preface and acknowledgments in a book. With the decade old Natural Capitalism from Paul Hawken (author of The Ecology of Commerce), Amory Lovins, and Hunter Lovins, co-founders of Rocky Mountain Institute in Colorado, I felt it was going to provide valuable background and history. In reading these sections I was struck [...]
Biomimicry: Looking to Nature
February 3rd, 2010 Eric Wilson The term biomimicry has shown up in a number of posts and served as a central theme in Paul Hawken’s The Ecology of Commerce. However, it remains somewhat nebulous as a concept. The December/January issue of National Wildlife contains an article titled “Mimicking Mother Nature.” Covering a range of inventions that mimic nature, the article [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Green Products, Sustainability Tags: Biomimicry, Ecology of Commerce, Regenerative Economy No Comments »Interface Inc. Leading the Way in Sustainability
November 24th, 2009 Eric Wilson While many companies are just now bringing “green” and sustainable products to market (as discussed in an earlier post), Interface Carpet based out of LaGrange, Georgia has been a leader in the field, producing carpet in a sustainable fashion since 1994. Ray Anderson, founder and chairman of Interface Inc., recalls the days when he and [...]
Conventional Vs. Green Building Costs
November 15th, 2009 Eric Wilson In 2003, Gregory Kats (of Capital E) conducted a thorough study of cost differences between conventional and green building techniques. The study served as the source for the Five Friday Facts post on October 23rd. (Click here for the PDF). He found that the differences range from no extra cost for basic and silver level [...]
Posted in Eric Wilson, Green Building, Sustainable Development Tags: Cradle to Cradle, Drywall, Ecology of Commerce, LEED, Lifecycle No Comments »
