In its second annual Plenty 20 listings of individuals and companies taking great strides on environmental issues, Plenty magazine recognizes the work of activists, authors, experts, certification groups and businesses large and small.
The 20 companies that made the cut represent the range of innovation taking place across all industries. IBM, Home Depot, Nike, Patagonia, Swiss Re and Google get mentions for the variety of steps they've taken to green their operations, support renewable energy, reuse materials, use fewer resources and make energy efficient products.
Bon Appétit Management Company and Pizza Fusion are bringing sustainability to restaurants and food service. Applied Materials and A123 Systems are each using nanotechnology in their work developing thin-film solar cells and efficient hybrid car batteries, respectively. The Forest Stewardship Council has become a widely-recognized and respected forest certification group, while Transfair USA certifies fair trade products and the Environmental Working Group pushes for safer cosmetics.
Companies also range from the proven to the hopeful. Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams has been making furniture with soy-based materials, recycled materials and responsibly sourced wood. Coskata, on the other hand, is hoping to develop affordable fuel out of tires, glass and other waste.
The remaining companies include renewable energy operator Iberdola, socially responsible investor Innovest Strategic Value Advisors, sustainability architecture firm Arup, recycling company Recyclebank and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which shares the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, one of the 20 individuals in the Plenty 20 that range from activists to visionaries.
Venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has put his weight behind solar energy and cellulosic fuels, Van Jones has been on the forefront of creating green-collar jobs, William McDonough and Michael Braungart popularized cradle-to-cradle design and thinking, Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius recently vetoed for the third time a bill that would allowed the construction of two coal-fired power plants and CEO Peter Diamandis' X Prize Foundation has unveiled the Progressive Automotive X Prize to spur the development of a car that gets 100 miles per gallon or more and puts out 90 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than current vehicles.
Authors and media figures include "The Omnivore's Dilemma" writer Michael Pollan, Forecast Earth presenter Heidi Cullen and New York Times environmental correspondent and Dot Earth blogger Andrew Revkin. The remaining mix of individuals includes Live Earth producer Kevin Wall, explorer David De Rothschild, water activist Maude Barlow, Worldwatch Institute founder Lester Brown, Ceres president Mindy Lubber, Pacific garbage patch tracker Charles Moore, Environmental Defense Fund president Fred Krupp, mining industry activist Joe Lovett, NASA climate scientist James Hansen, Nicholas Negroponte of the One Laptop Per Child Foundation and farmer, philosopher and organic certifier Frederick Kirschenmann.
Weaved throughout the work of the individuals and companies are the 10 ideas Plenty says will be the main drivers for the environmental movement next year: affordable green housing, green-collar jobs, carbon labels on products, green-focused media, closed-loop products and services, nature education in schools, skyscraper farms, intentional communities, affordable energy efficiency services, and living catalogs like the Encyclopedia of Life and Global Seed Vault. |
