A recent study has assessed the sustainability of different nuclear cycle scenarios in Europe, and suggests trade-offs are required between reducing the amount of uranium fuel needed, costs and proliferation risks.

A free online system for assessing the sustainability of buildings is due to be launched across Europe in July this year. The tool captures scientific complexity whilst being accessible and easy-to-use, its developers say.

A smartphone app has been designed to help shoppers choose more environmentally-friendly protein-rich products, namely meat, vegetarian alternatives, eggs and dairy products. The methods and data used to measure these products' lifecycle environmental impacts are presented in a recent study.

Costs of installing, maintaining and disposing of some green wall systems may outweigh the value of some of their benefits for householders, a recent study suggests. While the researchers omitted some of the wider social benefits, they found that reductions in heating and air conditioning costs, longevity of green walls and increases in property values did not compensate for their costs. The researchers suggest that government incentives to lower set-up costs could significantly increase the walls' economic sustainability.

A new method of assessing the sustainability of noise reduction devices (NRDs) used in transport infrastructure, such as noise barriers or absorptive claddings, is presented in a recent study. The new set of specially designed sustainability criteria allows NRDs to be easily and accurately evaluated, its developers suggest.

Resource productivity has become a popular indicator of environmental sustainability. However, new research has demonstrated that it is influenced by national income and its current use tends to support a simultaneous growth in economic productivity and resource consumption. In order to shape policy effectively, the study suggests that targets should directly emphasise resource consumption and emissions.

UN-REDD+ programmes that promote the sustainable use of forests may support local conservation and poverty alleviation goals, in addition to achieving global climate change benefits, according to a recent study. Existing multilateral funding schemes can provide important lessons for the development of UN-REDD+.

New research has investigated how successfully two recently implemented EU directives embracing sustainability principles have been integrated into policies. Findings indicate that practices vary a great deal between Member States with trade-offs between different aspects of sustainability, and that no single type of governance guarantees an optimum level of integration.

Championing local communities and local people may be one way to make communities more self-reliant and more sustainable, but what about the big cities? A recently published article argues that the economics of cities – which will soon be home to most of the world’s population – are crucial to sustainability goals and that cooperation in green city networks could reduce their collective impact on the environment.

Sustainable development aims to improve quality of life without compromising the well-being of future generations. A new study highlights the challenges of setting environmental sustainability goals and cites the EU Climate and Energy policy package, with its ‘20-20-20’ targets, as a model example.

‘Doing good’ can lead to ‘doing well’ for companies that implement corporate sustainability, according to a new study by Polish researchers. Eighty-five American companies that met corporate sustainability criteria proved to have better returns and greater stability in stock price than average, and better growth rates than their less sustainable counterparts.

Researchers in Lithuania have assessed and ranked the sustainability of buildings on a wide range of criteria, from pollution caused by the building materials to the running costs of the building. An overall sustainability index based on these criteria allows the comparison of different buildings and, using this index, the study estimated that a wood-based building is 7.5% more sustainable than a house made of bricks.

Progress towards achieving a sustainable urban environment may be measured by sustainability indicators (SIs), which can be chosen to represent values that are important to local communities. A recent study has assessed a set of SIs developed by both sustainability experts and local citizens and suggests that local communities can attach different values to SIs to reflect local values and understandings of sustainability.

The complexity of environmental issues and a lack of co-operation or shared objectives between parties involved in urban planning are preventing promotion of environmental sustainability, a new study suggests. The Finnish research, based on focus groups with 32 professionals in urban planning and environmental sustainability, suggests that the short-term economic goals of local authorities, the complexity of environmental sustainability, and a lack of co-operation between different decision-making groups in urban planning were creating barriers to achieving sustainability.

Individuals and groups of individuals have been influential in changing the Tisza River water policy in Hungary, according to a new study. A shift away from engineering solutions towards sustainable flood management was achieved through new policy ideas being recognised by civil servants at the national level and a regional coalition championing the ideas at the local level.

Considering the sustainability of the services provided by an ecosystem could help to overcome management challenges and hit water quality targets defined by the EU, says a new study. By exploring 13 of the ecosystem services (ES) provided by the Venice Lagoon, Italy, the researchers identify factors affecting sustainable and unsustainable patterns of ES provision, and suggest that confined and more open water bodies could benefit from different management strategies.

If the EU is to combat resource scarcity, it is necessary to develop and refine strategies for substituting raw materials with sustainable alternatives, such as recovered by-products from waste. A recent study presents a new approach for evaluating the sustainability of raw materials’ substitutions, based on the quantification of the embodied energy (energy required to produce the material from ores and feedstock) and carbon dioxide footprint (greenhouse gasses produced and released into the atmosphere during the production of the material) of both the raw material and its proposed substitute. The evaluation method has been applied to a real case, where it indicates that substituting a raw material (calcite) with stabilised fly ash for use as a filler in polypropylene composites in plastic manufacturing may be sustainable. The study also highlights the need for additional policy tools and legislation to encourage Europe’s transition towards a circular economy.

Foods that are healthy also tend to be sustainable. Should the USDA guidelines reflect that?

Georgia-Pacific Wood Products, which recently received SFI chain-of-custody certification, has launched a new sustainability campaign.

The American Forest & Paper Association announced today an ambitious set of sustainability goals for its member organizations to aim for by 2020.

At 15 square meters with an equal amount of outdoor living space, Jonas Wagell's flat-packed Mini House 2.0 is a lovely prefab retreat that can be assembled in

Looking back at the first Thanksgiving offers a way forward for us, says Michael Berman.

On Hamburg's waterfront, world-class sustainable architecture has emerged not from lofty green goals but from practical questions like this one: How do you buil

From sustainability as a means of innovation to envisioning a prosperous, peaceful future free of oil, coal and nuclear energy, these five books are taking care

The co-founder of Soshal Group says if we want to influence the future of ethical business, we have to talk about it differently.

In observation of one of the original New Urbanist-style planned communities' 75th anniversary, Norris, Tenn. gets a self-sufficient prefab demo home.

Mustang, Escape, Focus now come in more colors, with more renewable parts, than ever before.

John Brown, founder of the Slow Home movement, discusses the fundamentals of building and living in a greener house.

Half the world now lives in cities, and by midcentury 75 percent of us will be urbanites. To make our cities sustainable, look to the 2012 TED Prize and a fasci

They were the first to bring us the modern automobile as we know it, so it only makes sense that Ford Motor Company is now ushering in the future of mobility.

Toyota's 2011 North American Environmental Report shows progress towards meeting the automaker's five-year goals.

With Earth Day now behind us, it’s time to take another look at the steps we are taking to be a more sustainable company.

By working together, we can address food production and recycling, as well as other pressing issues in the product supply chain

Collaboration is the key as Walmart works with some of the world's largest corporations to address global sustainability challenges.

Watch this replay webcast of Walmart's Global Sustainability Milestone Meeting.

MillerCoors and Mother Nature Network are hosting a live Twitterview with MillerCoors Director of Sustainability Kim Marotta. Join us on Twitter @MillerCoors an

MillerCoors Sustainability Report

Common Sense Sustainability Is Good Business

More than just green ideas, "sustainability" also refers to the economy and social justice. But is the word being used to death?

Aria toilet paper is 50% thicker & 3x stronger when wet than the leading recycled brand. It's also eco-friendly.

Take a walk in the woods with Killian, who promotes forest health and stewardship and helps private landowners manage their forests.

"Sustainability Voters A Growing Force in American Politics"

Corcentric's Source-to-Pay Team Recognized with Supply and Demand Chain Executive's Green Supply Chain Award

Sustainability, the Catchword of Today and Tomorrow

Adam Werbach, global CEO of Saatchi & Saatchi S and author of "Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto."

Dominic Barton, the global managing partner of McKinsey&Company, discusses the firm’s sustainability efforts. He talks about the wake-up call he got about sustainability and how he tries to convince CEOs hesitant to make it part of their business model that doing so will improve company performance. He says he sees companies thinking about the environment. “But the speed and scale of what we need to do — I don’t think it’s sufficient.”

The United States, in partnership with 11 other countries, participates in the Montreal Process. Each country assesses national progress toward the sustainable management of forest resources by using a set of criteria and indicators agreed on by all member countries. Several indicators focus on nontimber forest products (NTFPs). In the United States, permit and contract data from the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, in addition to several other data sources, were used as a benchmark to assess harvest, value, employment, exports and imports, per capita consumption, and subsistence uses for many NTFPs. The retail value of commercial harvests of NTFPs from U.S. forest lands is estimated at $1.4 billion annually. Nontimber forest products in the United States are important to many people throughout the country for personal, cultural, and commercial uses, providing food security, beauty, connection to culture and tradition, and income.

Since President Donald Trump took office, 58 environmental protection policies have been rolled back or rescinded. 37 more are in the process of being taken off the books. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair checks in with 12th District Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell about efforts to thwart federal policies that threaten environmental health and sustainability.

Since President Donald Trump took office, 58 environmental protection policies have been rolled back or rescinded. 37 more are in the process of being taken off the books. In this week's "Issues of the Environment," WEMU's David Fair checks in with 12th District Michigan Congresswoman Debbie Dingell about efforts to thwart federal policies that threaten environmental health and sustainability.

Spraying graffiti on heritage listed buildings is something that is usually frowned upon. But when it is done in an environmentally sound way, does no actual damage and delivers an important message about sustainability, the results are surprisingly well received.