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General Motors completed a storm water management infrastructure expansion at its Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant, which is expected to save the company nearly $2 million annually and cut operational water intensity. The company estimates the cost savings will surpass the total project investment in about 1 year.

Cutting costs is paramount for the offshore wind industry - as well as for the climate. The cheaper it becomes, the more green offshore wind capacity will see the light of day. A record-low price on the Dutch wind farm Borssele 1+2 marks a breakthrough for offshore wind costs....

PepsiCo achieved a 26% reduction in operational water use per unit of production against a 2006 baseline in 2015, surpassing its 2015 target. The company's water conservation efforts have led to more than $80 million in cost savings since 2011.

A new study reveals that consumers' demand for product transparency is on the rise - overall, they desire more product information and are inclined to be more loyal to brands that provide more detailed insights. About 40 percent say they would switch to a new brand if it offered full product transparency, and 81 percent say they would consider a brand's entire portfolio of products if they switched to that brand as a result of increased transparency.

We may suspect that low-flow toilets and showerheads and thermostats that let the room get a little chilly or stuffy while you're gone are really just ways to reduce the hotel's utility bills.We may believe it's always and forever about the bottom line. Snyder's title is vice president of corporate responsibility at IHG, whose hotel brands include Holiday Inn, InterContinental, Hotel Indigo, Kimpton and more. His unofficial title is chief sustainability officer for the company. Whatever title he may go by, he is committed to being green, noting that saving money and saving the environment do not have to be mutually exclusive.

London's Heathrow Airport has saved more than 130 million liters of water annually using General Electric's water treatment technologies, GE says, adding that its technologies also saved the UK's largest airport $310,000 in a year.

PepsiCo's Frito-Lay snacks facility in Casa Grande, Arizona, treats and recycles about 648,000 gallons per day of process water from the potato chip and snack manufacturing process for rinse and wash water and for landscape irrigation.

The sales of electric vehicles and other alternatively-powered cars are on the rise, according to several industry reports released this summer.

The International Finance Corporation issued a $152 million bond to support private sector development and prevent deforestation in developing countries. The bond gives investors the option of getting repaid in either cash or a carbon-credit coupon - a move to bolster carbon-credit markets.

(World Green Building Council) showcases the actions businesses are taking to improve their workspaces and highlights the business value created from providing healthy, green office space for employees.

For the first time, solar power is becoming the cheapest form of electricity production in the world, according to new statistics from Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) released Thursday. While unsubsidized solar has occasionally done better than coal and gas in individual projects, 2016 marked the first time that the renewable energy source has out-performed fossil fuels on a large scale-and new solar projects are also turning out to be cheaper than new wind power projects, BNEF reports in its new analysis, Climatescope.

According to a new Pure Strategies study, over $8 billion was earned in 2015 from the sustainability efforts of 153 survey respondents, signaling a new way of defining sources of business value. Taking inspiration from sustainability's positive performance, companies should position their programs to generate the greatest business benefits and to measure and celebrate the gains.

* We'd be remiss if we didn't mention Patagonia's landmark decision to donate 100 percent of its global Black Friday sales to nonprofits benefiting the planet. The campaign was so popular, the company beat its goal of $2 million dollars in sales by five times that amount - resulting in $10 million in donations to hundreds of grassroots environmental organizations.

India is delaying a decision on asking for a dispute settlement panel at the World Trade Organisation against domestic content regulations in renewable energy programmes run by eight states in the US as it is hoping to work out a "mutually beneficial'' solution with the new regime under Republican leader Donald Trump. "New Delhi is still hopeful that it could work out a compromise with Washington on the flexible implementation of the WTO verdict against it in the solar power programme dispute. It may decide not to ask for a panel against US renewable energy programmes if it gets an assurance from the Trump administration on leniency in the solar case," a government official told BusinessLine.

GREENSBORO, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As Wrangler® celebrates a milestone of three billion liters of water saved since 2007, the global leader in jeanswear and casual apparel announces a goal to reduce water usage at its facilities by 20 percent by the year 2020.

Coca-Cola European Partners, Avery Dennison, Viridor and PET UK have teamed up to reduce waste, costs and the carbon footprint of Smartwater production in the UK. The initiative, which turns label waste into products, was rolled out late last year in an effort by CCEP to reduce the carbon footprint of its Morpeth factory by approximately 180-200 tons of CO2. The participating parties expect to achieve annual savings of over $30,000 by simply recycling, rather than incinerating or disposing of bottle liners.

A study from Unilever reveals a $1 trillion market for companies that effectively and transparently market the sustainability of their products. About 20,000 people in four countries and the UK were interviewed, and 33% said they would prefer to purchase a product that benefits the environment.

Recent studies have shown that climate change could affect the tourism sector. A lack of snowfall in California led to a decrease in business for local ski resorts and restaurants.

Cotton is planted on 2.4 percent of the world's crop land and yet it accounts for 24 percent and 11 percent of the global sales of insecticide and pesticides, respectively. Organic cotton represents less than 1 percent of the global total annual crop, but National Geographic, international clothing brand C&A, and activist and filmmaker Alexandra Cousteau believe that needs to change. A new 60-minute documentary, For the Love of Fashion, emphasizes "the need for a paradigm shift in the cotton value chain."

Most recently, social responsibility has become an issue as reports of labor abuses and unethical manufacturing practices have come to light. With growing consumer awareness of all of these issues, finding a path to sustainability is becoming increasingly important.