Monthly Archives: January 2022

GreenBiz Releases Top 10 Green Business Trends of 2022

By Daisy Cabanas

GreenBiz Group has published its annual ‘State of Green Business’ report for 2022, and with it has named its 10 trends for green business following its roundtable webcast on January 24.

GreenBiz Group’s annually published ‘State of Green Business’ report highlights new trends in the industry, as well as recommending some directions trends should head going forwards.

North Florida Green Chamber members and those committed to sustainable, green initiatives can learn about the current state of the green industry and potentially where to direct future goals and development. In its fifteenth report, the 10 trends that GreenBiz has identified cover a variety of different fields in green business from biodiversity to energy, food and even fashion.

According to the report, the top 10 trends of 2022 are as follows:

1. Increasing focus on environmental, social and governance initiatives, or ESG, in the workplace to galvanize and engage with employees

2. Growing interest and popularity in the second-hand resale market among consumers as a sustainable alternative to shopping new retail goods

3. Rising importance of the circular economy professional in the workplace hierarchy and introduction of sustainable, circular initiatives

4. Potentially expanding corporate commitments to reach ‘Net 0’ by pledging to increase and maintain biodiversity throughout organizational endeavors

5. Growth of sustainable food design with emphasis on finding sustainable ingredients first and forming food products around them

6. Mainstream adoption of circular mining practices to reduce total mining waste through utilization of elements and by-products to make new materials

7. Potential utilization of new technology and systems to track carbon emissions in supply chains for more accurate carbon accounting

8. Movement to go beyond 100 percent clean energy by aiming to match energy usage with clean energy

9. Increased financial investment in ESG strategy by companies and organizations both in the United States and around the world

10. Utilization of new technology and sustainable, clean energy resources to help decarbonize the shipping industry

“There’s no denying that the pace of change is quickening inside companies,” Joel Makower, chairman of GreenBiz says in the report’s trend introduction. “Whereas not long ago, the center of gravity could be found inside a handful of sectors — consumer goods, information technology, retail and apparel come to mind — today, there’s no part of the economy untouched by sustainable innovation.”

Green Chamber members cover a diverse a range of industries and causes while sharing the same common goals of emphasizing the importance of sustainable initiatives and incorporating green practices into daily work.

By partnering with the Green Chamber, members have access to a number of benefits that can help prepare and assist them in furthering their green pledge. Members have access to special news and events where they can engage and learn with other like-minded leaders, as well as coaching and mentor programs, a buyer’s club, and a green marketplace to connect them with other member organizations in the community.

GreenBiz Group is a media and events company that accelerates the just transition to a clean economy. Through events that galvanize, stories that amplify, peer networks that bond and industry-leading analysis, they define markets and advance opportunities at the intersection of business, technology and sustainability.

To learn more about the local Green Chamber email [email protected], call (904) 878-3474 or visit www.NorthFloridaGreenChamber.org.

(Daisy Cabanas is a communications intern with the North Florida Green Chamber.)

North Florida Green Chamber Board Member Takes on Antarctica

By Emily Barrett

North Florida Green Chamber board member Simmie Raiford recently visited the inhabitable continent of Antarctica on a last-minute 10-day trip.

Raiford flew to Ushuaia Argentina from Orlando. She toured the town and viewed the Andes mountains in Ushuaia for a couple of days.

After that, she took a cruise to the South Shetland Islands where she got to stroll on snow-covered islands, and then the cruise continued to Antarctica where she not only got to view from afar but walk on the continent.

To get to land they had to use Zodiacs, they are the essential inflatable boats that ferry passengers away from the cruise liner on excursions. While they were going to shore, they had to dodge through icebergs of all shapes and sizes.

To get ashore they had to use ropes and ski poles and on land, they had to walk in a single file line marked by ropes. The ropes on the trail helped guide them because there were parts of the land that had holes covered by snow, so if you stepped on it you would sink in and get stuck; this did end up happening to Raiford and she had to have people pull her out of the snow.

While the normal hiking paths were amazing in themselves, they also offered a meditative path where you could sit down and take everything in. While she was hiking, she was able to see Gentoo penguins in their natural habitat but had to stay five meters away for respect to the wildlife.

The trip didn’t end there though, not only did she get to see this magnificent continent she learned about its history. She learned about explorers and scientists who have traveled there and the research they have done. Also, about how climate change is affecting the continent, what changes have been made and what changes will come about if warming does not stop soon.

They also learned about the wildlife there that mostly consists of penguins and seals. She said you could see the impacts of climate change with certain glaciers melting.

When going back to the boat Raiford and her cruise mates even took a tiny glacier back to the boat with them and used it as ice for their drinks. She realized it could have had bacteria after the fact, but it was the coolness factor that counts the most.

Back on the boat some of her crewmates did the polar plunge in the Southern Ocean.

Raiford highly recommends doing this trip and states that the photos she took do not do it justice. The best time to go is in December/ January because it’s summer for Antarctica.

(Emily Barrett is a communications intern with the North Florida Green Chamber.)

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