You wouldn’t think that technology and forestry had a lot in common but Irish software company Treemetrics would beg to differ.

Recent global finalists in the IBM Smartcamp awards, the company uses 3D laser scanning techniques to give forest owners a detailed picture of their ‘stock’. This information can then be used to monitor the forest’s condition, better plan their cutting and match “the right forest to the right mill”.

Measuring and mapping forests is already common practice but largely consists of clipboards and callipers. Treemetrics’ system can cut the costs of this process by up to 75% and provide more accurate, usable results at the same time.

No wonder then that they’re picking up awards and orders all over the place.

Site: www.treemetrics.com

Pic: BillWard

Imagine that you’ve rented a truck to move across the country. You fill up the truck, drive the miles and then unload at the other end. Now imagine someone had to drive the empty truck back across the country to drop it off where you picked it up.

Oddly, this is often what happens with commercial hauliers. Over a quarter of trucks on the road in the US drive empty on their return journeys – costing everyone money and not doing the environment any favours.

In response, VICS (an industry-led body tasked to ‘improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the entire supply chain’) have launched EmptyMiles.org

The website matches empty trucks on a return journey, with retailers who have loads that can be delivered en route.

How could a similar scheme be applied in your industry or on a micro level in your part of the world?

Site: www.emptymiles.org Via: PSFK

Pic: Flickr CC

Zero Baggage won’t launch officially until November this year but it’s an interesting – if a little squishy – idea nonetheless.

I say ‘squishy’ because it looks a little like 2 or 3 good ideas rolled into one. That said, the one big idea is consistent – helping you travel and live lighter through what they call the “temporary use of circulating items”. i.e. Renting.

The Virtual Suitcase lets you borrow new and pre-loved items from local retailers at your destination. You can pick them out yourself on arrival or choose from the online marketplace and they’ll be waiting for you at your destination. In other words, a kind of fractional ownership for clothes and other goodies.

Which sounds like a nice idea, but there’s more …

If you’re frequently travelling to the same location, you can store your stuff in a ZB Locker (another neat idea). There’s also a community element and a service called Citywide Wardrobe (which sounds like a version of the Virtual Suitcase for longstays or locals to use themselves for light living).

The site also hopes to reward users with various perks from local businesses in exchange for ‘carbon credits’ earned for travelling light. (Similar to Recyclebank perhaps?)

There’s certainly a lot of interesting ideas going on so here I’m keen to see how the site develops ahead of its launch. And as the idea of location independent living gains ground, it’s potentially a precursor of other businesses serving this niche too.

Site: ZeroBaggage.com Via: PSFK

A little over a year in business, One Block Off the Grid, offers collective solar bargaining for communities.

By bringing together groups of homeowners, 1BOG as it is known, can negotiate group discounts for installation of solar panels (and referral fees for itself). They also simplify the process for buyers by educating them and vetting installers.

To date the company has helped arrange the installation of hundreds of rooftop solar panels and is moving beyond its California base to work with communities in Phoenix, Denver and New Orleans (as well as launching their first East-coast program).

Speaking to the New York Times, co-founder David Llorens said:

“Over the course of 2009 we put in about 550 solar systems, which probably puts us on par with the top five installation companies.”

Just as interesting as their business model are their marketing efforts which include extensive use of social media ( they have 316,000 Twitter followers at the time of writing), recruiting neighborhood advocates and old-school faves like door-to-door canvassing and yard signs.

Which makes sense. The decision to ‘go solar’ is as much an eco decision as an economic one, putting an emphasis on the ‘campaign’ in marketing campaign.

It also provides a great roadmap for other businesses and organisations keen on replicating their model – with solar or with something else entirely.

Site: 1bog.org

Simple question: how do you tackle the problem of excess packaging? Answer: get rid of it completely.

A number of supermarkets, brands and even government agencies have been promoting their commitment to reducing excess packaging on their products but (as usual), niche businesses are leading the way.

London-based grocer Unpackaged, for example, has done away with packaging completely. Customers bring along whatever containers they like to be filled with anything from veggies to coffee and household cleaners to eco-friendly toiletries. Prices are based on weight.

From their site:

How it works

1. Remember to bring your containers* from home
2. Come to Unpackaged and say hello
3. Choose the product and amount you want
4. Take your goods home in your own containers (if you forget, we have reusable bags)
5. When you’ve run out, come back for a refill, simple as that!

*Containers: bring anything you like, there’s nothing to date that we haven’t been able to refill (even our lovely friend who likes putting lentils in old water bottles!) Bring glass jars, tupperware, old takeaway cartons, brown paper bags, plastic bags, old packaging.. if it’s heavy, we’ll weigh it first, if it’s light then just refill and we’ll weigh at the end.

As you’d expect, their green ethos continues beyond packaging too. Most products are certified organic and preference is given to locally-produced goods and social enterprise suppliers. Goods which have been air freighted are not stocked.

The best niche businesses are the ones that live and breathe their niche – not just pay lip service to it. It is this kind of focus that can help small businesses compete with bigger players – and has help Unpackaged grow from market stall to award-winning business with a cult following and impressive media coverage.

Site: beunpackaged.com

About 1million people travel every year from the UK to ski in Europe. Most fly. Only 6% take the train.

Run by freelance ski journalists, SnowCarbon.co.uk aims to encourage ski lovers to swap the skies for the greener, cleaner, serener option of rail travel – cutting carbon emissions ‘by up to 90%’ in the process.

Here’s how it works:

“We’ve selected 30 of the best ski resorts that are convenient to reach by train from the UK. Click on the name of a resort to see a brief summary of the resort and sample train journey, plus a journey map and details of the carbon benefits of travelling by train.

Click on “Resort review” and you’ll find an independent review over 4 pages written by one of our team of leading ski journalists. To find journey details, times, tips and fares, click on the green button, “Journey details and prices”.

You can book rail tickets – or just find fares – by clicking on “book tickets”. Our custom-built forms will take you to the relevant booing pages on the rail company sites.”

Apart from championing the eco-benefits of rail travel, it’s this last point that makes a real difference. The lack of a central booking system and the sheer number of rail companies involved makes booking trains to Europe needlessly complex. Snowcarbon’s onsite booking forms take users directly to the appropriate booking pages – making the whole process much simpler.

And anything that eases consumer pain while doing its bit for the planet has got to be a good thing – and something that travel companies of all ilks should be rushing to partner with.

Site: www.snowcarbon.co.uk

I HATE pigeons – in fact they’re right up there with clowns on my list of things to hate. But like clowns I stop short of wanting them all culled, so it’s nice to see an interesting alternative to poisons and traps.

UK-based Hawk Force is a commercial ‘pigeon control service’ that uses trained hawks to scare away pigeons, and train them not to come back.

“Pigeons are smart animals and they quickly learn that artificial bird deterrents, such as sonic devices, warning calls and predator models offer no threat. Show them a real bird-of-prey and it’s a different story!

Our trained falconers fly hawks directly toward a flock of pigeons, scaring them away. The pigeons quickly learn to associate the area with danger, thus an effective no fly zone is created.

Our hawks are not used to kill pigeons, but merely to act as a deterrent.“

Now if we could only train them to fly at flocks of clowns …

Site: www.hawkforce.co.uk

Image: Flickr CReative Commons [1]