An Interview with Mr. Steve Brankle, Director of Facilities Services and Sustainability at John Brown University. As a former student of John Brown University, I was intrigued when I discovered that they had made a significant stride towards becoming a zero waste campus! In July of 2012, John Brown University became the first zero landfill university in the state of Arkansas. Slowly but surely, the school started to implement new ways to re-route the campus’ refuse away from landfills to be recycled, reused and recovered. The…

If you’re one that loves to spend some time away from the hustle and bustle of modern life, or you’re just a huge fan of standing around a campfire for a few days, then there’s bound to be a camping trip marked on your calendar in the next couple of months. While getting back to nature might seem like the apex of being green, the last thing you want is to leave a campsite looking like you’ve been hunkered down in some sort of post-apocalyptic…

With concerns about climate change and global warming, governments have begun looking to set environmental standards to tackle this growing problem. In most cases, these governments have set up policies and targets to tackle greenhouse gas emissions; the province of Ontario is taking things a bit further. On May 18, 2016, the government of Ontario passed the Climate Change Mitigation and Low-Carbon Economy Act.  This act outlines Ontario’s plan to tackle climate change and lower emissions significantly by the middle of the century. What is…

Starbucks is a business known for their specialty coffees, baked goods, and uniquely named cup sizes.  It is the poster child of the American café experience, and now it is becoming the same for business sustainability. Recently, the American-based coffee company began to issue sustainability bonds to expand their plan on sustainably produced coffee.  This development poses some questions – What exactly is a sustainability bond?  What does it have to do with Starbucks? What does it mean for business? So, take a seat and…

When your computer, cell phone or tablet finally gives out, what do you do? You go to your local electronics store and buy a replacement, of course! We don’t always think about what happens to the old one we got rid of, the e-waste we’re generating, and what will happen to it once it’s thrown in the trash and forgotten about. Electronic Waste or e-waste can be any electronic device that is obsolete, broken or is simply not wanted anymore. In 2014, Canada generated 799,000…