The students at William Paterson University clearly take a lot of pride in their sustainability initiatives. As a finalist for the 2012 Second Nature Climate Leadership Awards , they won the public voting competition on Planet Forward featuring their innovative climate leadership. The video details how the campus has come together to support the American College and University Presidents’ [...]

One of our Planet Forward members contacted me with an interesting question:

I was in my backyard cleaning a greasy mess the squirrels left from an avocado from my tree. It made me think where did the avocado tree get the oil for the fruit? It is old technology about extracting oil from avocados, sunflowers, soy [...]

Happy Birthday, Minnesota! Today in 1858, Minnesota was admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state.  To celebrate, we’re going to take a look at what’s going on in the land of 10,000 lakes to make the state turn from blue…to green! We’ve partnered with Minnesota 2020 to get great stories from the north. From solar panels, [...]

At last week’s Innovation Summit, DC Mayor Vincent Gray said that he would make the city  “fossil-free” by 2030. Yesterday, he released his vision for a “Sustainable DC,” and how we would get there. Although he didn’t reiterate the goal of becoming fossil-free by 2030, he does have a comprehensive plan to reduce energy use [...]

The Innovations keep coming

After the conference on April 17, 2012, we still have innovations coming. Check them out and submit your own!

The growing role of natural gas in the U.S. energy mix continues to confound and divide renewable energy experts and investors. Is America’s abundant supply of shale gas a boon for the renewable industry, or undercutting it? That was the recurring question panelists sought to address during a talk, “Renewables: Boom or Bust?”, during a  conference hosted [...]

One of the key areas where cities can promote sustainability is on the streets. By narrowing roadways and increasing the width of sidewalks, they can encourage more walking, higher population density as well as slow down vehicle traffic and generally make their streets more friendly to multiple types of users. So, what should city planners [...]

Thanks to everyone who came to the conference yesterday and participated via our live stream and online chat. We’ll have more highlights in the coming days. Our first highlight is a Chat with Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle. Mayor Battle Discusses Sustainability with World Wildlife Fund This one on one is a part of the GW Moving Conference [...]

On Tuesday, April 17, top thought-leaders from government, academia and industry will participate in “ GW Moving the Planet Forward ,” a symposium that will find and highlight solutions to the challenges of a changing planet by showcasing examples of innovation turned into action. Hosted by Frank Sesno, founder of Planet Forward and director of GW’s School of [...]

Watch the show tonight at 6pm!>> Tonight, we are featuring the innovative company, Osorb, which has developed a material that can actually absorb contaminants from water. Last year, through a partnership with the National Science Foundation, Osorb uploaded their video and sparked a conversation online. Now, we’re taking it to TV. This segment will air on “Bloomberg [...]

We’ve seen businesses, [...]

Watch the show>> Planet Forward has partnered with the daily technology and business TV show, Bloomberg West , to bring you stories about energy and environmental innovations and innovators. The collaboration will feature ideas that have been submitted on planetforward.org and evaluated by our members, experts and editorial team. We are looking for innovative businesses that could transform the [...]

Pedestrians and cyclists can breathe easier on Washington, DC’s streets, according to Mayor Vincent Gray, because of what he describes as a plan to “cover the entire city” with traffic cameras. Cameras slow down traffic, and slower cars would make it safer to walk and bike around the capital. In many ways, DC is already leading [...]

Press Release from GW External Relations GW Moving the Planet Forward Conference to Highlight Solutions WASHINGTON—Top thought-leaders from government, academia and industry will participate in “ GW Moving the Planet Forward ,” a symposium that will find and highlight solutions to the challenges of a changing planet by showcasing examples of innovation turned into action. Hosted by Frank Sesno, [...]

As if you couldn’t get enough Planet Forward, our host and Founder Frank Sesno is moderating a film screening and panel at this year’s Environmental Film Festival. The panel is titled “Environmental Impacts on Public Health” and will be focusing on the critical issues of our changing planet and health impacts. Be sure to join [...]

By Andrew Freedman of Climate Central SimCity, the iconic strategy game that gave rise to a generation of “Sims” games, is getting a 21st century makeover . With the real cities of the world increasingly on the front lines of climate change, SimCity will include a climate change component. The new version of the game, developed by Maxis in conjunction [...]

This week, our expert Christopher Cahill was asked: Why don’t we dump our radioactive waste into the Mariannas Trench, where it will be subducted? After a reactor uses its nuclear fuel, there’s still a lot of energy in it. It’s still hot, highly radioactive and potentially harmful. The fission process has just slowed and is [...]