Jib.li

Jib.li is an online service which connects people who need to send something, somewhere, with folks who are actually traveling there.  It’s a way of helping airline passengers share the luggage allowance by providing a service and getting paid.

The luggage allowance is the next frontier for collaborative consumption in the aviation industry.  Jib.li is a social platform which connects travelers or non-travelers in ways that provide things they can only get from certain places.

Currently, most airlines restrict the amount of carry-on luggage which can be taken on-board by each passenger.  They then charge anyone needing to load extra items.  Jib.li uses social network-like connections to match people with unused allowances with others on the same flight who are looking to avoid such charges.

On Jib.li, users with extra space can post details of their journey through the site – and if another member can use it – get paid for carrying the luggage of others.  Passengers surpassing their weight limit are then able to take full advantage of lower prices for placing extra items on the plane.

Luggage is truly the next frontier for collaborative consumption in the aviation industry.  While it makes lots of sense to both maximize the available storage space for carry-on and stow-away luggage, with the various security concerns around airport travel  it will be interesting to see how this model is able to scale up in a safe and manageable way.

Every gardener or green-thumber has had the thrill of growing their own vegetables.  Along with that thrill comes the question of: what do I do with all this leftover zucchini and tomatoes?  Well, in the UK, there is a collaborative solution to the problem.  It’s called Vegswap.

Vegswap enables people to swap their home grown or homemade produce with other local gardeners.  Now, it’s easy to truly be a locavore in terms of your consumption.  By participating in Vegswap, producers can save money, reduce food miles and support sustainability all while enjoying fresher, better tasting fruit and vegetables.

In the UK, just like most western and developred nations, food waste is a huge problem. WRAP, a UK based organization aims to lessen waste in everyday lives through its program ‘Love Food Hate Waste‘. Their research shows that,

Almost 50% of the total amount of food thrown away in the UK comes from our homes. We throw away 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink from our homes every year in the UK, and more than half of this is food and drink we could have eaten.

Vegswap, thus provides an easy solution to the interconnected problem of food waste and hunger. Their online format simply requires registering an account.  Once you’ve set up your account and login, you plug in the following pieces of data:

• Produce type you have
• Produce you have
• Available produce type you would like
• Available produce you would like
• Distance to search

Although the actual Vegswap calculator is not the most attractive in terms of web design, it is a system that works.  The more people who join, the better the whole vegswap system becomes. With Vegswap you can swap vegetables, seedlings, plants, fruit in addition to eggs, honey, and homemade jams or juices. The more friends you invite, the more participants it gets, the better the selection of delicious fruits and vegetable or seed cuttings.

The website also serves as a resource to help you grow your produce by providing useful planting tips depending on the month of the year .

Inviting a friend and sharing the tastiness of Vegswap is easy.  Use this online tool to develop Share Vegswap with your friends on your favourite social network.

How are you participating in the sharing economy?

Loss of biodiversity and ecosystem damage has become a serious and in some cases an irreversible problem. Increase in population and urban sprawl has led to serious environmental and economic losses. Critical habitats are being lost and there is an urgent need to curb this biodiversity loss.

Habitat surveys protect the environment in two ways; they reveal potential problems development might cause and they highlight the unforeseen consequences resulting from actions already taken. There are a variety of reasons for a habitat survey to be commissioned. In some cases, there is reason to believe an ecosystem may be threatened. Specific species deemed endangered and requiring particular habitat, may need monitoring via periodic surveys.

A habitat survey gathers data to identify the habitats within a specific area as well as the species found within it. Habitats are identified by referencing a list of habitat classifications. Once a habitat is identified, it is mapped to provide a spatial record. Additionally, notes concerning the area being surveyed are included, such as rare plants or animal species found, unusual habitat features like ancient hedgerows or evidence of recent changes to the habitat.

Many surveys are conducted in response to proposed land development to assess environmental impact on land that development may cause.

Habitat surveys may be conducted on one of two scales. A larger survey is useful for strategic planning by local authorities. It can identify habitats that by law require protecting, as well as provide information about possible endangered species that are present or the negative effects a previously taken action has had on the environment. These surveys allow local governments to plan for future appropriate uses of land. A smaller site-based survey provides data for an Ecological Impact Assessment to determine what effects on a particular environment a specific development will have. These site-based surveys, usually commissioned by the developer, accompany planning applications.

Regardless of its scale or the reason for being conducted, the first step in habitat mapping is a Phase 1 survey. This basic survey can be conducted any time during the year but is most accurate when done in the spring or early summer. Vegetation is most easily identified during the growing season. Moreover, if a satellite navigation system assists in the survey, it is less likely to encounter interference from the heavy overhead growth of tree canopies that is present later in the summer.

From a Phase 1 habitat survey, a developer can identify issues that might delay permission or prompt a rejection of its planning application. Additionally, a developer, being forewarned about potential environmental concerns, can investigate ways to minimise the impact of its development. Depending on the results of a Phase 1 survey, a Phase 2 habitat survey may be indicated. A Phase 2 lists individual plant and animal species as well as details of area covered or frequency of occurrence per species. A Phase 2 is often required when an initial survey turns up habitat frequented by protected animals or vegetable species.

Numerous bespoke habitat surveys are conducted for reasons such as:

• Noting the effects of pesticide pollution on the local animal species
• Documenting the availability of vegetation favoured by wild bees
• Determining the effects of run-off fertiliser on the flora and fauna of an area
• Noting the effects of herbicides pollution on local vegetation
• Determining the results of changes made to streams or rivers

Habitat surveys can help critical ecosystems to be monitored and preserved over time.

Habitat image via Shutterstock

Paul Polak is an internationally acclaimed social entrepreneur who wants to eradicate poverty using business and technology. He is the author of the book Out of Poverty and founded International Development Enterprises, an NGO that ended poverty for 17 million people. Now, Paul and his team is working on empowering low-income farmers with reliable irrigation systems.

Problem: 

Did you know that there are a billion people in the world that make just $2 a day? The vast majority of the families who live this reality are farmers in the developing world with small plots of land. They make just enough to survive and have difficulty investing in labor-saving equipment.

To break out of the poverty cycle, poor farmers need to grow cash crops to increase their income. Cash crops are irrigation intensive and farmers need a reliable, low-cost water pumping system to grow the extra food they need to make a poverty-busting profit.

Irrigation systems are expensive and incur maintenance costs. In addition diesel or electric pumps are both expensive and unreliable. Electric pumps can alternatively be powered with solar energy, but current systems can cost $5,000 or more, which is way out of the reach of poor farmers.

Goal:

Paul Polak is working with a team of experienced design, construction and solar professionals. They want to build a cost effective solar water pump and system that will help improve the lives of 50 million people in developing countries. The solar pump is the key component of a complete water-to-crops irrigation system that is being designed by leading experts in the fields of irrigation, systems engineering, and solar energy. Using a method proven by Paul Polak, the system will be sold to farmers in some of the poorest regions in the world, enabling the farmers themselves to break their poverty cycles.

The team has the designs, the prototypes, and the motivation. Now they are crowdfunding to build a production model to take to field tests – Read more about the project here support the efforts- http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/sunwater-affordable-solar-powered-pumps-for-poor-farmers

PanZanZee

It’s an office-space!  No, it’s a network of ‘treps! No, it’s an incubator for social enterprise ideas!  What is it really? 

Panzanzee is Chicago’s social enterprise incubator, co-working space and continuous community.  What is different and unique about Panzanzee from other co-working set-ups is the focus on sustainable financial and social impacts.  They care about providing discovery, resources, trust and traction for entrepreneurs who are pursuing sustainable and socially impactful enterprises.

From initial inception and incubation for concept and business strategy developments to Peer-to-Peer Group Meetings to their signature ‘raise the barn’ event, Panzanzee is to social enterprise what silicon valley is to technical enterprise.  The three types of impact organizations and entrepreneurs they are working to establish, include:

• Social Impact Business
• Traditional Commercial Business
• Non-Profit with a Business Model

Panzanzee is beyond ‘treps.  In other words, it is not strictly an incubator for entrepreneurs.  What Panzanzee provides is a learning organization for the entire Panzanzee network.  The best innovations come from a diverse and purposeful community who also have strong skill sets.  From investors, mentors and business professionals to technicians, designers and artists – the aim is to aggregate a synthesized creative network around businesses which will maximize impact.

Do you have a social enterprise incubator in your city? Tell us more about it via a comment. 

The Artha Venture Challenge, a national competition run by impact investment portal, the Artha Platform aims to find the most ambitious, early stage social entrepreneurs in India.

To ensure that good ideas do not stay small it is essential that high-impact social ventures are able to access funding to navigate the early growth stages and reach scale. The Artha Venture Challenge is a pioneering initiative designed to address this well-acknowledged problem – the missing middle in social finance where there is a lack of high risk, patient capital for early stage social ventures in the INR 25 lakh to 100 lakh range.

The Artha Venture Challenge is now inviting applications from social ventures across India that are operating in the sectors of Agriculture, Energy (Clean Cookstoves and others), Water, Livelihoods and others, have completed proof of concept and are seeking growth investment.

Ennovent – an organisation that accelerates innovations for sustainability in low-income markets – will be managing the Artha Venture Challenge on behalf of the Artha Platform.

Through the Artha Venture Challenge, the selected cohort of 15 winning enterprises will get the opportunity to pitch for up to INR 25 lakh (USD 50K) of funding, if matched by the equivalent or more in co-investment.

In addition, the Artha Platform will also work with the winning cohort to build a compelling growth story by providing access to expert mentors, facilitating exposure to a closed network of impact investors, offering investment readiness support and profiling the winning ventures as one of the most high-potential social entrepreneurs in India.

Aside from providing capital to social entrepreneurs with merit, the challenge will also strengthen seed investment in social ventures in India, help investors to de-risk through syndication and strategically deploy resources, partnerships and co-investment where it matters the most.

Worried that you may get selected as part of the cohort but are unable to find co-investors? Don’t be. Inspired by the UK Big Venture Challenge run by UnLtd where 10 early stage co-investment deals were closed within 10 months attracting over GBP 1m in co-investment, the Artha Venture Challenge aims to similarly stimulate the early growth stage social investment market in India.

If your enterprise is delivering positive impact and you are seeking growth investment, then the Artha Venture Challenge is for you. Apply for the Artha Venture Challenge now

Trend #1: Cleanweb. Cleanweb brings together mobile, social, big data, and cheap sensors to change way we do we do business as well as provide powerful tools to attack resource problems. Cleanweb also brings cleantech into people’s homes making this technology more approachable to consumers. Mosaic, Sunfunder, wattTime and Yerdle were some of the cleanweb companies in attendance.

Trend #2: Consumer savings. While the maturing of the cleantech industry has resulted in many company failures , the result has been cheaper, cleaner more convenient products for consumers — rooftop solar being a prime example.

Trend #3: Corporations. Corporations are the bright spot int cleantech ecosystem. Corporations are both providing venture capital and forming strategic partnerships with companies to help bring about system change and a clean energy future.

From his bio, “Pono was selected as one of Hawaii Business Magazine’s 2010-20 for 20 and identified as one of Hawai`i’s top 20 Break Out Leaders for the Next 20 Years. In 2012, Pono successfully led the efforts of Punawai O Puuhonua’s New Market Tax Credit Application and was awarded a $40 million allocation for economic development in low-income communities for Hawai`i.”

Seeking relevance

Shim said his beginnings in social entrepreneurship came from his Aunt, a woman who was concerned about what we were doing to our world, our culture, our society. She said, when it boils down to it, what we are all seeking…oil barons and bakers alike, is relevance. It manifests itself in the cars we buy, the education we seek, the company we keep.

Pono Shim, CEO of Enterprise Honolulu, speaks to a gathering of social entrepreneurs at Envision Hawaii’s First Tuesday speaker series

Shim’s father was an instrumental part of the Democratic renaissance in Hawaii. After fighting in World War II, Shim’s father returned to Hawaii to find a society in the midst of big changes. Hawaii, at the time, was transitioning from a large plantation agriculture society with an oligarchic structure of several dominant families that controlled all the wealth. The people had voted and shifted the politics substantially. They were ready for change, but there was no infrastructure. Shim’s father became the attorney serving the new government and instituted some of the most basic social safety nets that still exist to this day in the state.

Shim says he and his 6 siblings always loved their father, but never knew what he really did, or how big an impact he was having. They were much more interested in surfing. But one day, Shim had an accident and did permanent damage to his wrist. He was unable to surf any longer, and, instead, “started hanging out at the office with dad.”

Shim’s transition to a powerful force for economic development started by learning through osmosis at his dad’s office. He showed his capabilities quickly, and soon began receiving job offers. But Shim had a different path. He managed to convince his wife that, despite having no investment money, he should start a business. He started a business 3 days before September 11. (So the next time you think, as a social entrepreneur, that your path is not a smooth one, I hope Shim’s ultimate success despite that beginning will give you faith to power on.)

Turning around a sinking ship

In 2008, Shim was recruited to take over the ailing Enterprise Honolulu. The organization was essentially bankrupt, facing shutdown and encountering gridlock at the state capitol. The public had lost trust in the organization. While Enterprise is a 501 (c)3, it is primarily funded by private money. Its vision is a thriving economy and society in Honolulu.

So how do you turn around an organization facing the challenges of bankruptcy, political stonewalling, and public distrust?

Envision Hawaii’i, an organization designed to convene and support young professionals in public service is committed to providing young public servants and social entrepreneurs with opportunities for community building, professional development and collaborative action.

The organization hosts First Tuesday a free event for social entrepreneurs that features guest speakers every month from 8 to 9 a.m, with free breakfast and an engaging discussion. Join other like-minded innovators over coffee at the Manifest to discuss key topics that are essential for organizational and business sustainability in you are in Honolulu.

Our goal is have an interactive conversation with the intention of inspiring, encouraging and motivating positive action.

Today, May 7, the groups hosts Pono Shim, a gifted storyteller who is known for using illustrations to connect with his audiences.

Pono believes that the majority of social issues facing individuals, organizations, local, national and international communities are symptoms of deeper problems that can and must be addressed today.

In 2009, he was asked to take over the leadership of Enterprise Honolulu. At the time, the organization was in serious financial distress and had lost favor with the local community. Pono has deployed techniques of transforming the organization’s culture, collectively known as ADHOC (Aloha Defines Hawai`i’s Organizational Culture). Today, the organization is financially stable and considered an influential leadership hub in the state. Pono considers his exposure to Hawai`i leadership philosophies as a child to be the backbone to his ideas, actions and words.

Pono is a leader who is working to bridge the members of our community. Pono was selected as one of Hawaii Business Magazine’s 2010-20 for 20 and identified as one of Hawai`i’s top 20 Break Out Leaders for the Next 20 Years. In 2012, Pono successfully led the efforts of Punawai O Puuhonua’s New Market Tax Credit Application and was awarded a $40 million allocation for economic development in low-income communities for Hawai`i.

It will surely be an insightful hour with Pono and the growing community of social entrepreneurs in Honolulu.

If you can’t make it, follow them live on Twitter @EnvisionHawaii and tweet using the hashtag #1stTuesday.

Currently 80% of the energy we produce comes from carbon emitting sources. Woolard spoke of the need to reverse that equation so that 80% will come from zero carbon emitting sources by 2040. What will it take?

Future360.tv spoke with John Woolard, CEO of BrightSource Energy, to learn about the Ivanpah solar power facility in the Mojave Desert. The plant will be coming online this summer and will provide energy for 140,000 homes. Ivanpah will generate 392 MW – about half that of a nuclear powerplant – and is the largest solar thermal facility anywhere in the world.

Woolard is pleased that the project is on schedule and on budget two years in, thanks in part to its partners Bechtel and NRG. A challenging aspect of building the plant was permitting early on in the project. Streamlining permitting is one of the most important things for renewables. And then there’s policy. Better policy clarity would help everyone building renewable energy plants and clean energy technologies.

Currently 80% of the energy we produce comes from carbon emitting sources. Woolard spoke of the need to reverse that equation so that 80% will come from zero carbon emitting sources by 2040. In order to do that we need to build effectively a GW a day of zero carbon power. That’s the equivalent of a nuclear power plant worth of zero carbon energy everyday by 2040.

To this would require a broad portfolio of energy sources as anytime you try to focus on a niche, you sub optimize. Woolard spoke of the need to put photovoltaics on rooftops, to look at wind, to look at large scale solar thermal that can help both wind and PV integrate into the grid because it’s got dispatchability and reliability, to look at geothermal and even nuclear. The size and scale of the challenge is very daunting but Woolard is optimistic that we have a bright future ahead.