Sustainable Brands held its flagship annual conference in Vancouver in June, with the Erb Institute as a strategic partner. Erb and SB had teamed up for the SB17 conference in Detroit, recognizing that our missions and sustainability-related goals were closely...
Results for research on: Conscious Consumption
In clean energy portfolios, money isn’t everything – Research by D. Bessette (MSU) and Erb Faculty Director, Arvai
People may be more willing to pay for clean energy and strategies that dramatically reduce emissions than previous studies have suggested, according to new research by Michigan State University Professor Douglas Bessette and University of Michigan Professor Joseph...
Collaborating Toward the Good Life: A Conversation with Keurig Green Mountain’s Monique Oxender
A self-proclaimed “complexity junkie,” Monique Oxender, Keurig Green Mountain’s Chief Sustainability Officer, doesn’t bat an eye at tackling big, complicated issues. From the future of coffee to the recyclability of Keurig’s pods, Oxender and her team have provided...
Dispatches from the Sustainable Brands Conference – Vancouver 2018
Thursday, June 7th Decisions, decisions In the session “The Conscious Consumer vs. the Consumer Unconscious: Insights from Decision Neuroscience,” the panelists explored the dissociations between consumers’ stated preferences for “green” products and their...
Activism: Help or Hindrance to Business? – former Erb Institute PostDoc, Jocelyn Leitzinger
Activists and industry For many people, the combination of activists and industry brings to mind images of protestors chanting while marching with signs and banners in front of a company’s store, headquarters or production facility. For others, it suggests the...
The hundred people behind your favorite pair of jeans
Have you ever stopped to think about how many people were involved in making the clothes you buy? Chances are you have heard about or read The Travels of a T-shirt in a Global Economy or listened to Planet Money’s piece on making a t-shirt. Both are incredibly...
Seventh Generation and Unilever: Would an Acquisition Affect Sustainability? – Case Study
Report: Seventh Generation and Unilever: Would an Acquisition Affect Sustainability? (pdf abstract) Purchase the full report on WDI Publishing (Case study #1-430-507) – published 04/2017, 22 pages Developed by: Kirstie Hostetter, Cory Wydysh, Anna Hayden, and Mike...
The future of fashion: Are we missing the mark?
Little has changed since the 1940s in the way we make our clothes. We still heavily rely on people to power sewing machines, large swaths of agricultural land to grow cotton, and millions of gallons of petroleum to produce synthetic fabrics. Historically, the fashion...
Why green consumerism isn’t taking off
If sustainability is so “in,” why aren’t more people buying ethically made clothes? The past few decades have changed the shape of the apparel industry. A few iconic media scandals over child labor and sweatshop labor have made Western shoppers sensitive to certain...
Erb Institute Board Member, Tom Catania Helps Push the Needle on Sustainability – New Energy Index for Fans will help Gauge Efficiency
A new metric for fan efficiency is set to revolutionize how commercial and industrial fans are regulated and considered for utility incentive programs. It will drive significant energy savings and technological improvements, and it will also help consumers,...