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Power management company Eaton announced that its 39 zero-waste-to-landfill manufacturing facilities have avoided 2,750 metric tons of waste since 2010. The sites also avoided 2,500 metric tons of CO2 from waste transportation and storage over the same time period.

The story that should dominate every end of year round up from every media outlet on the planet came last month in the form of two reports released at the U.N. climate summit in Bonn. The first confirmed atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide are at their highest levels in at least 800,000 years and possibly 3 million to 5 million years. As Emily Shuckburgh of the British Antarctic Survey said, the last time concentrations of greenhouse gas were as high as they are, sea levels were around 10 meters higher. Up to two meters of sea level rise this century is now entirely plausible. However, the second report was the real kicker. The Global Carbon Project predicted carbon emissions will rise this year after four years when flat emissions fuelled hopes global economic growth and carbon emissions had been decoupled

Bees, butterflies and other pollinators are increasingly under threat from human activities and countries must transform their agricultural practices to ensure global crop production can meet demand and avoid substantial economic losses, the United Nations Conference on Biological Diversity heard today. According to the global assessment on pollinators produced by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), 75 per cent of our food crops and nearly 90 per cent of wild flowering plants depend to some extent on animal pollination, which is the transfer of pollen between the male and female parts of flowers to enable fertilization and reproduction. Without pollinators, crops such as coffee, cacao and apples would drastically suffer, and changes in global crop supplies could increase prices to consumers and reduce profits to producers, resulting in a potential annual net loss of economic welfare of $160 billion to $191 billion globally.

Allowing US employees to telecommute has saved Dell $39.5 million and avoided an estimated 25 million kWh of energy and 13,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions since fiscal year 2014.

JetBlue is teaming up with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to help Caribbean vacationers avoid contributing to the illicit trade of threatened and endangered species.

Some fashion companies are embracing ethical shopping trends, using greener chemicals and more sustainable production methods. Marketing eco-fashion can be tricky, though: Executives say it's important to avoid finger-wagging and to make sure fashion comes first. "It is primarily about fashion. Being 'green' is in the background," says Olaf Schmidt, organizer of the Ethical Fashion Show in Berlin

Clean-energy investments of up to $1 trillion a year are needed to avoid climate change, and that will require new commitments by major institutional investors, according to a Ceres report. The usual energy investors -- banks and utilities -- won't be able to raise that amount, the report warns.

European lawmakers are poised to sign off on a law that would allow airlines to avoid paying carbon fees for long-haul flights terminating in Europe. The move disappointed greens, who said lawmakers had secured little beyond vague promises of future action in exchange for the move. "European governments have conceded again to international pressure without getting anything meaningful in return," said transport activist Bill Hemmings

Real estate firm Peabody Properties is saving $1 million and avoiding 5 million KW-h of electricity consumption annually by implementing web-based tools from utility analytics company WegoWise to track and benchmark consumption.

The Department of Energy has made available $8 billion in loan guarantee authority to support advanced fossil energy projects that avoid, reduce or sequester greenhouse gases.

Coca-Cola will convert 100 of its Chevrolet Express service vans into hybrids using technology from XL Hybrids. The move is expected to reduce fuel consumption up to 20% and avoid 4,000 tons of CO2 emissions over the vans' lifetime.

The Food Waste Reduction Alliance released "Best Practices and Emerging Solutions Toolkit," a guide for companies to reduce food waste. The guide provides advice for overcoming barriers to food donation, new technologies for reducing food waste, and strategic planning to avoid generating waste.

IF HUMANITY is to avoid dangerous climate change, we need to capture hundreds of billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide. But what to do with it all? There is no shortage of places to bury it (see "Trailblazing power plant is first to bury its carbon"), but we can at least put some of it to good use. A few start-up companies view CO2 as a resource rather than a waste product. They are using CO2 as the raw material for making products including superglue and fertiliser.

Some scientists and analysts are touting carbon capture and storage as a necessary tool for avoiding catastrophic climate change. But critics of the technology regard it as simply another way of perpetuating a reliance on fossil fuels.

An estimated 1.3 billion tons of food is wasted each year, totaling $750 billion in economic losses, according to a 2013 report from the United Nations that analyzed loss of food around the world. France is looking to avoid such waste, becoming the first country to enact a law that bans grocery stores from wasting food.

The world needs "immediate and substantial" reductions in carbon emissions to avoid huge and irreversible damage to the planet's oceans and fisheries, researchers say. "The oceans are closely tied to human systems, and we're putting communities at high risk," said fisheries researcher Rashid Sumaila

Nestlé has invested $7 million to transform its milk factory in Modesto, CA to a "zero water" operation to avoid use of local freshwater resources. The project is expected to save around 63 million gallons of water annually and is due to be completed by the end of 2016

Nevada utility NV Energy helped a Las Vegas school district save $2.25 million and avoid 21.4 million KW-h of electricity consumption per year by installing energy-efficient lighting at 152 schools. The project also enabled the school district to earn $790,000 in utility rebates during the 2012 fiscal year

Marriott is avoiding over 816 metric tons of CO2 emissions per year after installing energy-efficient televisions from LG at U.S. properties. The company also expects to save almost $700,000 in electricity costs over the lifetime of the products.

The 30-Year Sweatshirt project aims to counter "built-in obsolescence among major fashion retailers" by offering apparel that's guaranteed to last at least three decades, says founder Tom Cridland. Investing in better materials and manufacturing also allows shoppers to avoid the ethical problems that come with cheap, disposable fashion, Cridland says.