Stanford Social Innovation Review

A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons.

You know the world is changing when the largest corporate buy-out in history hinges on an environmental commitment. That’s what happened in February when two top private equity firms enlisted the help of Environmental Defense, a nonprofit that finds practical solutions to environmental problems, to acquire TXU Corp., the largest utility in Texas.

Peter Liu started his working life as an engineer at the oil giant Chevron Corp. The experience turned him into an avid environmentalist. Several years later, it also led him to co-found the New Resource Bank, which calls itself the nation’s first “green” commercial bank. 

Human-caused climate change, sharply declining conventional energy sources, and population growth are threatening the very platform of human life. Yet only 5 percent of U.S. foundation spending goes to the environment, and a paltry 2.9 percent goes to science and technology.

How Sustainable Conservation unites all sectors for the environment.

TerraCycle turns what others leave behind into fertilizers and fashion.

For much of its history, Wal-Mart’s corporate management team toiled inside its “Bentonville Bubble,” narrowly focused on operational efficiency, growth, and profits. But now the world’s largest retailer has widened its sights, building networks of employees, nonprofits, government agencies, and suppliers to “green” its supply chains. Here’s how and why the world’s largest retailer is using a network approach to decrease its environmental footprint – and to increase its profitability.

The Regeneration Project helps the environmental movement get religion.

A reputation for CSR may shield
companies from the public’s ire.

Environmental lawyers around the world join forces via E-LAW.

Indigenous people are being displaced to create wilderness areas, to the detriment of all.

Climate change is a hot issue. To combat global warming and other environmental problems, Greenpeace’s strategy is both to protest against environmental offenders and to help them craft solutions to their ecological gaffes – often at the same time. Using this inside-out approach, Greenpeace catapulted Greenfreeze, an obscure ozone- and climate-safe refrigerant, into widespread use and launched the first Green Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, in 2000.

The Rainforest Action Network launched an intensive consumer boycott of several Mitsubishi companies, leading to significant changes in the way the Japanese giant and many of its partners do business. That engagement provides critical lessons for both activist NGOs and corporations.

The San Francisco Recycling Center gussies up the globe with recycled paint.

Organic Exchange uses its global network to promote environmentally friendly fibers.

A Chilean firewood certification program spares both the air and indigenous business.