Penn Enactus Launches Recycling Initiative for Veterans

by Penn Enactus

A close-up of the first mosaic made of recycled tiles and mirrors by the Penn Enactus Green Initiative team. Courtesy of Penn Enactus

In the fall of 2012, our group of students from the University of Pennsylvania undertook the monumental challenge of starting Penn Enactus, the Penn chapter of the entrepreneurial organization Enactus. Our team reached out to various business leaders and faculty members  to gather a sizable Business Advisory Board, and also greatly benefited from the guidance of Professor Keith W. Wiegelt of the Wharton School, and Joanne Spigonardo, Associate Director of the Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (Wharton IGEL).

One of Penn Enactus’ three current start-up projects is the Green Initiative, created with guidance and support from Wharton IGEL. With environmental sustainability and economic welfare in mind, the Green Initiative team takes an ambitious approach to a common social problem: unemployed military veterans. Combining the determination of the target group, and the use of recycled tiles, mirrors and pottery, we are teaching veterans in the Philadelphia area the skills they need to make, market, and sell mosaic artworks.

The 2013 Wharton IGEL Conference Workshop

Thank you to all the speakers and participants of our 2013 Wharton IGEL Conference Workshop! Please make sure to visit the conference page for pictures and speaker presentations. In addition, a Knowledge@Wharton Special Report on the conference will be released soon, so stay tuned!

In the meantime please check out the following blog posts from Oikos Penn students Ruchi Shah and Leah Khaler, who covered our 2013 IGEL Conference:

Love Coca-Cola not for its taste but for its efforts

by Ruchi Shah
Businesses and brands are increasingly obliged to healthy communities and constituents for their bottom-line growth. On March 21, 2013 at the IGEL Conference-Workshop on The Nexus of Energy, Food and Water, Coca- Cola talked about their sustainability goals and accomplishments. Continue reading →

Local Economy in a Global World

by Leah Khaler
Entrepreneur, activist, and White Dog Café founder, Judy Wicks provided a different perspective at the 2013 IGEL conference at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Continue reading →

Of Climate Change and International Policy Architecture

by Samantha Guidon*

Robert Stavins, Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government, Harvard University. Courtesy of Stephanie Nam/Penn Law.

On February 27, 2013, Harvard University’s Albert Pratt Professor of Business and Government Robert Stavins came to Penn for a presentation entitled “Climate Change, the IPCC, and International Policy Architecture” as a part of the Risk Regulation Seminar Series, an initiative jointly sponsored by the Penn Program on Regulation, the Wharton Risk Management & Decision Processes Center, and the Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (Wharton IGEL).

Peeking into Sustainable Paper and Packaging

by Silvia Schmid*

To some, the idea of a sustainable paper and packaging company can produce an uncomfortable cognitive dissonance, perhaps conjuring up imagery of clear cutting and Styrofoam. Yet as much as we would like to think, do not print emails and traveling mugs are hardly going to replace the paper and packaging products that consumers want, firms demand, and on which the economy relies every day. Although this doesn’t mean that there is nothing being done. There are plenty of efforts to nudge consumer behavior toward the more sustainable, and, as attendees at a recent lecture at Wharton found out, the paper and packaging industry itself certainly considers issues of sustainability.

The Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (Wharton IGEL) invited David Kiser, Ph.D., Vice President, Environment, Health, Safety, and Sustainability at International Paper (IP) and a member of the IGEL Corporate Advisory Board, to speak about the company’s sustainability initiatives. The lecture was cosponsored by the Institute for Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania.

A Portable Environmental Economics Lab

by Yixiu Zheng*

I started working on this project last semester, while taking a course in environmental economics.

As a subfield of economics, environmental economics draws on both microeconomics and macroeconomics[i], but it also has unique concepts of its own. I have seen that students who have never studied economics before can find terms like “property rights” and “marginal abatement cost” overwhelming. While scholars of economics often use historical data and experiments, environmental economics is a relatively recent discipline, developed first in 1950s in the U.S.[ii] There aren’t many experiments to build upon; for instance, the water rights trade doesn’t have a large scope of application, except for some arid areas like California and Australia. So how are students supposed to fully understand and apply these concepts in the real world?

I learn best through direct experience. This type of teaching doesn’t seem boring to me. And in fact, it is suggested that people do have a better memory when they put teachings into practice, for example, by trying to cook a meal rather than just reading its recipe. This is why I want to create a game about environmental economics.

Clean Energy Challenges and Opportunities for Investing in Sustainability

by Sharon Muli*

Jason Baxter of Drexel University

If the Earth had six massive solar installations measuring 200 miles long by 200 miles wide filled with 10% efficient solar cells, it could generate enough energy to meet global demand.  While this is a powerful vision that demonstrates the high potential of solar power, it sounds like a rather absurd thought. Yet this image raises a fundamental question; how can we take better advantage of solar power?

This issue was discussed during the Clean Energy and Sustainability Investing Workshop at the Wharton Social Impact Conference on November 16, 2012, organized by the Wharton Social Impact Initiative.  This year, the theme of the conference was “The Finance of Impact:  Innovative Approaches to Social Change”. The discussion of photovoltaics (PV) emerged as a clear example of how financial investments and technological development can lead to more sustainable change.

Water: Emerging Risks and Opportunities Summit

by Samantha Guidon*

On February 8, 2013, with an imminent Winter Storm Nemo on the horizon, over 250 industry leaders and key players in the water sector came together at Goldman Sachs in New York City to begin the dialogue on addressing water risks throughout the country. Students from the Master of Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania joined the Wharton Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (Wharton IGEL) team in attending this event to gain key perspectives from leaders in the water sector. Entitled “Water: Emerging Risks and Opportunities Summit,” the conference identified areas in need of improvement and discussed opportunities from various points of view. A welcoming address from David Solomon, Co-Head of the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs, established the overall goals of bringing together capital, technology, and policy in order to determine best management practices within the water sector.

Community Engagement through Penn’s Sprouting Athletics Eco-Reps Program

by Marissa Rosen

Collegiate athletics programs can provide experiential learning and engage a broad audience, thus serving as a particularly attractive educational vehicle. Athletic teams and their events can build a school’s community, appeal to donors, strengthen alumni connections, attract prospective students, and generate school pride. They can also send a message of environmental sustainability.

Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (Wharton IGEL) sponsored last Tuesday’s official kick-off dinner for the University of Pennsylvania’s Athletics Eco-Reps program. Thirteen founding Varsity athletes, along with coaches and supporting staff, have been strategizing since last fall to reduce their teams’ environmental impact, addressing water and energy conservation issues, recycling rates, fan engagement, and responsible sourcing. Penn’s unique program is part of the Ivy League Conference’s collaboration with the Natural Resources Defense Council Green Sports group and the Green Sports Alliance.

A Business of Sports and Sustainability

by Silvia Schmid

Jami Leveen, Director of Marketing and Environmental Stewardship, ARAMARK Sports & Entertainment

Aside from its benefits to society, business sustainability has become valuable in its own right for those enterprises moving to achieve it properly – and market it honestly. As part of their joint seminar series, Wharton’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership and the Institute of Environmental Studies at the University of Pennsylvania invited Jami Leveen, Director of Marketing and Environmental Stewardship for ARAMARK’s Sports & Entertainment division, to speak about the company’s sustainability practices.

Due to their celebrity, professional athletes are often trendsetters in a variety of settings from fashion to films. But a growing green trend has seen athletes in the US –and their sporting facilities– emerging as leaders also in environmental stewardship. Sporting events, which, aside from the games themselves, are perhaps best characterized by massive consumption and waste, are opportune spots to communicate a message of environmental sustainability. The large audience, and the tendency for many fans to imitate their favorite players, can strongly influence behavior inside and outside the stadium. In the words of Ms. Leveen: if Derek Jeter tells his fans to recycle, there is a much better chance they will spend those extra 1.2 seconds choosing the right bin. But the impact can be felt beyond simply the behavior of fans. The purchasing power of sports venues also puts pressure on vendors and the rest of the supply chain.

Upcoming Competitions

The Nespresso’s AAA Sustainable Quality MBA Global Challenge 2013: This global MBA case study competition, managed by Latin America’s INCAE Business School, in partnership with Nespresso´s value chain advisor the Sustainable Markets Intelligence Center (CIMS), seeks to engage MBA students at leading management programs and tackle the most pressing strategic issue in Nespresso´s supply chain: the sustainable sourcing of coffee from hundreds and thousands of smallholder coffee farmers in Latin America and other parts of the world. To read more about the challenge, rules and more, visit http://sustainabilitymbachallenge.com/ The deadline for schools and teams to register (only one team of 4 students per school) is on January 30th.

Clean Tech Challenge 2013: This international business competition aims to develop clean technology ideas from concept to execution. Open to all undergraduate and postgraduate students, individually or in groups, with £10,000 to be won. You can join one of the groups even if you don’t have any novel ideas of your own. The Challenge is hosted by London Business School and University College London (United Kingdom). Last year’s winner and runner-up projects included: novel solar cell design, re-use of mechanical vibrational energy, technology enabling bacteria to pump out biofuels and fine chemicals along with innovative electricity storage -the ten finalist teams came from Denmark, Belgium, US, Italy, China, Netherlands and the UK. Please send your 200 word description by 27 January 2013. Visit http://www.cleantechnologychallenge.com/ for more information.

MIT Clean Energy Prize: This Enter your start-up in the MIT Clean Energy Prize for a chance to win between $20k and $150k! The MIT Clean Energy Prize is currently recruiting teams/start-ups from across the United States with innovative ideas in one of three categories: energy efficiency, renewable energy and deployment and infrastructure. Winners from each category receive $20k each and go on to compete for the $150k Grand Prize. Application deadline is February 28, 2013.  Apply online at:  http://cep.mit.edu/submit-entry/. Have an idea but not a company? No problem! The MIT Clean Energy Prize pairs teams of motivated students with great ideas with mentors from the start-up business communities to help turn their ideas into reality. To learn more, please visit: http://cep.mit.edu/