Author Archives: Gwen Ruta

Fast Company: Smart Energy Management Takes More Than Technology

By | Bio | Published: April 30, 2012

Knocking down a brick wall by yourself with your bare fists is next to impossible. But organize a team equipped with sledgehammers and a plan, and it gets a whole lot easier. In other words, when tackling tough problems, it’s not just about the tools you have, but how you marshal your assets to break [...]

Posted in Education, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Tools | Leave a comment

Harvard Business Students Debate KKR and Sustainability

By | Bio | Published: March 28, 2012

Thirty-five years ago, Milton Friedman wrote a famous article for The New York Times Magazine whose title aptly summed up its main point: "The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits." Never mind that most companies don't pay the full price for the pollution they create, or the health and environmental impacts that [...]

Posted in Education, Innovation, Partnerships, Private Equity | 1 Response

Companies Save Millions By Hiring For Corporate Sustainability

By | Bio | Published: January 24, 2012

I recently moved into a new house and for the first time in my life, I have a cleaning lady.  Like most people I know, on the day before she’s scheduled to arrive, I clean up a little. Because just having someone whose job it is, and knowing that she’ll be focused on that job, [...]

Posted in Behavior, EDF Climate Corps, Education, Innovation | Leave a comment

Remembering Ray

By | Bio | Published: August 10, 2011

The world has lost a true business leader and sustainability pioneer.  Ray Anderson’s vision that business can and should solve environmental challenges, not create them is one that EDF shares and champions.  Just a few years ago, Ray joined the entire EDF team for our annual staff retreat.  As was his tradition, he finished his [...]

Posted in Innovation, News Commentary | 3 Responses

Using Open Innovation To Bring The Gulf Of Mexico Dead Zone Back To Life

By | Bio | Published: July 13, 2011

I don't live on a farm, or anywhere near one. So I know that my mental picture of a farmer–a guy wearing overalls, driving a tractor and consulting the Farmer's Almanac for advice–is right out of the 1950s. Today's farmers are plugged in, tech-savvy, and globally connected. The Iowa Soybean Association has teamed up with [...]

Posted in Eco-Challenge Series, Health, Innovation, Innovation Exchange, Partnerships, Tools | 1 Response

Power Company Trades Your Jobs And Our Health For Its Profits

By | Bio | Published: June 24, 2011

Over a decade ago, EPA began developing new regulations to cut dangerous pollution from power plant smokestacks. These plants churn out most of the mercury, acid gas and arsenic pollution in our air, and the new rules will dramatically slash this pollution, saving up to 17,000 lives and preventing 120,000 asthma attacks each year. Most [...]

Posted in Behavior, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Innovation, News Commentary | Leave a comment

Spreading Sustainability: From the Fortune 500 to the next 5,000

By | Bio | Published: April 27, 2011

Recently in Harvard Business Review, Michael Porter and Mark Kramer wrote about “The Big Idea” – that companies must take the lead by “creating economic value in a way that also creates value for society by addressing its needs and challenges.” Driven by win-win success stories, by a vacuum in policy leadership, and by the [...]

Posted in Behavior, EDF Climate Corps, Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Innovation Exchange, News Commentary, Partnerships, Private Equity, Supply Chain Management, Treasure Hunts, Walmart | Leave a comment

EDFbiz Brief: Highlights of our recent work

By | Bio | Published: April 26, 2011

Understandably, hectic schedules and information overflow makes it easy for news to sometimes slip through the cracks. This is why we want to recap some of the exciting things we’ve been working on over the last few months at Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). EDF CLIMATE CORPS As we gear up for the summer, we’ve closed [...]

Posted in About Us, EDF Climate Corps, Events & Activities, Innovation, Innovation Exchange, News Commentary, Partnerships, Quarterly Update, Walmart | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Can Open Innovation Save the Planet?

By | Bio | Published: February 24, 2011

Imagine if you could tap the brainpower of proven innovators from around the globe to help your company create its next business breakthrough and enhance its environmental record. Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) announced today that it is teaming up with InnoCentive, a global leader in crowdsourced innovation, to help companies do just that through a [...]

Posted in Energy Efficiency, Events & Activities, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Innovation, Innovation Exchange, Partnerships, Tools | 1 Response

We Are All Going to Be Naked Soon: Radical Corporate Transparency

By | Bio | Published: December 13, 2010

"We are all going to be naked," says my friend Andy Ruben in an intriguing TED talk, "so you might as well get buff." Referring to transparency in the corporate supply chain, this statement is pretty radical coming from a senior executive at Walmart. Despite its size and the fact that it is publicly traded, [...]

Posted in Behavior, Energy Efficiency, Events & Activities, Innovation, News Commentary, Partnerships, Supply Chain Management, Walmart | Leave a comment