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Shareholder pressure to phase out Styrofoam has not kept McDonald's from using foam cups in several Chicago-area restaurants this summer, though the company would not say where else it may be using them. The chain said it continues "to work with our suppliers on sustainable packaging options that reduce our sourcing footprint and positively impact the communities we serve."

Dunkin' Donuts plans to begin phasing out polystyrene foam cups beginning this spring, planning to have completely eliminated polystyrene cups from its global supply chain by 2020. While the majority of Dunkin' Donuts' international markets are currently using paper cups, the company will work to replace foam cups with a new, double-walled paper cup throughout its US stores as quickly as manufacturing capabilities can get up to speed. Dunkin' Donuts has been searching for a suitable - and affordable - replacement for polystyrene cups since 2011.

Neonicotinoids are bad news for bees and we've known it for a while. But the situation regarding bee populations and the world's most widely used pesticide has now become so dire that the EU has placed a complete ban on their outdoor use, and it's expected to take effect by the end of the year.

AkzoNobel has pledged to achieve carbon neutrality and use 100% renewable energy by 2050, as part of its Planet Possible sustainability agenda. The company currently sources 40% of its energy from renewables.

Apple says that 320,000 acres of working forest in China have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council and that the company is now protecting and creating enough sustainable working forest to cover the paper use in its packaging for all products.

oday marks Earth Overshoot Day - the day by which the human race will have used more of Earth's natural resources than the planet can renew in the whole year.

Representatives from across the apparel industry recently came together at the Fiber and Biopolymer Research Institute of Texas Tech University, where Wrangler, Lee, the Walmart Foundation and Indigo Mill Designs unveiled a disruptive new dyeing process for producing denim. In a radical departure from water-based dyeing, IndigoZERO™ uses a foam-based process to reduce water and energy use by more than 90 percent

Corporations interested in sustainability have become a major driver in the renewable energy industry, said experts at the North American Energy Markets Association meeting in Florida last month. "There is about 15 GW of latent demand for renewables that wants to be built by 2020 in order to meet the targets of Fortune 500 companies that have committed to some degree of renewable energy in their supply portfolios," said Invenergy Vice President of Sales and Marketing Craig Gordon. 3M, Alphabet, Amazon and Microsoft are among the companies seeking power purchase agreements with renewables in the US.

Due to skyrocketing consumer demand, particularly from Asia, today's wildlife traffickers have the resources to outfit their henchmen with weaponry and equipment that often outmatches that of the local park rangers. The poachers doing the most damage in Africa today are employed by professional trafficking syndicates, and they enjoy a level of support and financial backing unimaginable during earlier poaching crises. The poachers' arsenal includes the expanding use of military-grade equipment like helicopters, machine guns, infrared scopes, and heavy armored vehicles.

McDonald's achieved its 2017 goal to phase out the use of medically important human antibiotics in its U.S. chicken supply a year ahead of schedule. The fast food chain also announced plans to remove artificial preservatives and high fructose corn syrup from select menu items.

Polyfluoroalkyl and perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, are chemicals used in nonstick cooking products and firefighting material and are known to cause health risks. Researchers found that 194 out of 4,864 water supplies in about 36 states had detectable levels of the chemicals, but most water treatment plants don't have the technology to remove it, putting millions of people at risk.

President Barack Obama announced a new ban on offshore oil and natural gas drilling across broad areas of the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, using part of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act that would make it hard for his successor to reverse the decision. "They'll be arguing about this for years in the courts," said environmental lawyer Patrick Parenteau.

A plan launched by Philadelphia City Council President Darrell Clarke and backed by the Philadelphia Energy Authority will use $1 billion on energy efficiency projects in municipal buildings, schools, small businesses and low- to middle-income homes with the goals of creating 10,000 green jobs over the next decade and reducing energy consumption. PEA's executive director, Emily Schapira, says green energy is a growing industry, and the project will spur its development in the city.

The Senate voted 63-30 last week to pass a federal bill requiring food manufacturers to label products made with genetically modified ingredients, using either wording on packaging, a logo or a website link. The bill is expected to be considered on the House floor this week.

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

"MillerCoors, the second largest brewer in the US, announced on Wednesday that all of its major breweries have achieved landfill-free operations. The Fort Worth Brewery in Texas was the final of its eight sites to reach the milestone, after the facility engaged a 'Sustainability Employee Council' that focused on changing employee behaviors and making recycling easier and more accessible."

Regularly scheduled United Airlines flights between Los Angeles and San Francisco will be fueled by a blend of 30 percent biofuel and 70 percent traditional fuel, reducing an estimated 60 percent of greenhouse gas emissions compared with regular fuel. United says it is "the first U.S. airline to begin use of commercial-scale volumes of sustainable aviation biofuel for regularly scheduled flights."

The government of Quebec, Canada, has set a goal to export 60.9% of its installed renewable energy capacity to the US -- up from its current level of 46.6% -- by 2030. "With the most developed wind energy supply chain in Canada and the northeastern United States, Quebec's wind industry is in a good position to meet our continent's energy challenges," Canadian Wind Energy Association Vice President Jean-Francois Nolet said.

Most companies that use cotton aren't doing enough to promote sustainability in their supply chains, according to a Rank a Brand report, with 29 of 37 major cotton-users getting a failing grade. Only about one-fifth of sustainably produced cotton is sold as such, while lack of demand leads the rest to be marketed as regular cotton.

H&M, one of the most eco-conscious fashion stores out there, has been battling against just that since 2013, and is hoping to enlist the help if its customers with a powerful new video. Entitled Bring it on, a short film shows what happens to the garments you recycle, from being turned into new fabrics for new clothes to being used as cleaning clothes. In doing this, it hopes to collect 25,000 tonnes of unwanted clothes per year by 2020. 

H&M's "Bring It On" campaign encourages customers to recycle unwanted clothing at local stores, with Londoners getting a gift voucher worth about $6.25 in exchange. The company aims to collect more than 27,500 tons of used clothing and donate the funds from the garments toward textile recycling and human rights organizations.

Guangdong, the province in southern China, has posted a plan to reduce dependence on coal and oil from 73% of energy use in 2010 to 60.6% next year. The move is part of the region's effort to reduce its carbon emissions per unit of gross domestic product by almost a fifth from 2010 levels by 2015