On February 11, Nestlé announced the opening of nominations for its 2012 Prize in Creating Shared Value. The official announcement was made at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) global conference in Delhi, India. This prize was organized back in 2009 in an effort to celebrate the most innovative projects that offer feasible solutions related to the number of agricultural issues of the developing countries on the basis of sustainable development principles. Such issues include access to, or management of, water, improving the lives of farmers and rural communities, or providing better nourishment to communities suffering from nutritional deficiencies.

The Lee brand is modelling itself after another celebrated jeanswear manufacturer, Levi’s, by introducing its own solution on how to be eco-conscious. While Levi’s is doing a bigger job by launching its Water<Less clothing and asking public to develop their own ideas on how to make drying more eco-friendly, Lee is trying contributing to the cause by encouraging its fans to re-use—packaging, not pants. The brand offers its consumers the ‘Never Wasted’ shopping bag, which can ‘reincarnate’ into a number of nice things after being used as a container for taking the purchases home.

While Walmart is launching an eco-focused Geo Girl make-up line for 8-12 year-old girls, H&M pays tribute to sustainability with its Conscious Collection, an ongoing range for women, men and kids, made from environmentally adapted and greener materials. Last month, H&M also created a new line dubbed Waste, made up of several different fabrics from pieces, which were left over from their capsule collection with Lanvin, and the new addition continues the retailer’s strive to be eco-friendly.

Bacardi Limited, which is one of the recognized leaders on the international spirits market, unveiled its third Corporate Responsibility Report titled ‘Spirit for Life,’ which highlights the company’s achievements in social and environmental areas during fiscal year 2009/2010. The 37-pages overview touches on global environmental efficiencies, increased engagement with responsible suppliers, an expansion of the Bermuda-based company’s award-winning ‘Champions Drink Responsibly’ campaign, and its active role in helping local communities through employee volunteer projects.

UK-based Fairtrade Foundation announced it would be running Fairtrade Fortnight between 28 February and 13 March. Fairtrade Fortnight is the annual event organized by the Foundation in an effort to promote all kinds of assistance it provides to people in developing countries. This year’s event is dedicated to cotton industry and millions of cotton growers.

Using eco-friendly drinkware is one of the top priorities for environmentally conscious global and local coffee retailers. Naturally, every coffee chain wants to offer its customers only the best product and at the same time turn them into eco-believers. Unfortunately, it takes some time (and money, and a good dose of creativity) to implement these «green» commitments into real life. This review is set to attract our attention as an industry to cups, paper or plastic containers for steaming hot beverages, which together with other sustainable packaging is able to improve (or at least not to harm) the environment. The idea of this article came from the recent announcement from Repurpose Compostables about the launch of the greenest coffee cup in the world, One Cup, which begins our short study of eco-cups, with due respect to other products mentioned below.

By Gustavo Piqueira,  the Founder and Creative Director of Casa Rex

I was deeply surprised at the end of last year when I heard the news that one of the blandest packages I have ever designed, had been chosen to go on exhibition at a Design Biennial here in Brazil. After all, if the creator didn’t consider it very beautiful, you can imagine what others would think. Had the exhibition’s curators created the “worst designs of 2010” category and I was about to get ready for public humiliation?

In the unique ‘One Tonne Life’ project, launched January 19, the Lindells family of four will try to live within the limits of one tonne of carbon dioxide emissions per person per year. The project has been initiated by A-hus, Vattenfall and Volvo Cars, with ICA and Siemens being the project’s specialist industry partners. The family lives in a climate-smart wooden house, use an electric car and turn to advanced energy solutions, which are already available or will become available in the very near future.