Cascade Alliance

Five Headline Friday (6/1/18)

Welcome to this week’s Five Headline Friday, and Happy June!  Some stories that got our attention this week:  Zero Waste Scotland is working to help the city of Edinburgh to become more circular, the recycling crisis – the struggle really is real, a how-to framework from the Harvard Business Review for cross-sector collaboration for social good,  textile waste and what to do about it, and the trend toward regional philanthropy.

Edinburgh businesses to turn ‘waste into wealth’ with launch of Circular Edinburgh

Scotland is on the cutting edge of developing a circular economy, and we are excited to be working with Zero Waste Scotland on their efforts to help businesses and government move toward zero waste.  This article provides an example of a collaborative model that provides funding and support to help business turn toward a profitable circular enterprise.

Your Recycling Gets Recycled, Right? Maybe, or Maybe Not

We’ve been seeing a lot of local news reports across the country talking about community-level impact of the China recycling ban.  We’ve also seen other countries such as New Zealand reporting similar challenges and being in “crisis mode”.   We’re finally getting a national picture emerging for the US, demonstrating the opportunity and urgency of expanding development of a circular economy and local recycling capacity.

How Companies, Governments, and Nonprofits Can Create Social Change Together

This article in the Harvard Business Review discusses the societal and monetary benefits of cross-sector collaboration in our efforts to save the world.  A shift away from competition and toward collaboration is advanced as necessary.  A management framework for collaboration is put forward, called Social Value Investing.

Early Efforts to Tackle Mounting Textile Waste

Textile waste is the fastest growing waste problem, and only 16% of it is recycled.  As the price of clothing comes down, more consumers are treating it as disposable.  This article, part 1 of a 3-part series, examines the problem and approaches to solving it, including greater consumer awareness, regulations, and emerging technologies for sorting and ‘fiber-to-fiber’ repurposing.

Off the Beaten Path: With Another Mega-Gift, the Regional Philanthropy Boom Rolls On

We’re seeing increasing focus on local impact investing and philanthropy.  This article shows an example of one donor’s effort to impact several aspects of their community at once.