Marc Gunther

One of the most fascinating ideas in the world of sustainability is biomimicry—the notion that we can design products, services, systems and processes to look more like nature. In nature, nothing is wasted. Everything is sustainable. And efficiency has been driven by 3.8 billion years of evolution.

Recently, HOK, one of the world’s big architectural firms, formed an alliance with the Biomimicry Guild, a consulting firm led by Janine Benyus, the guru of biomimicry. They’ll work together to explore the question of how nature can help us better design buildings, neighborhoods and cities. Their work is the topic of today’s Sustainability column.

Here’s how the column...

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Gold mining is a dirty business, for many reasons. In poor countries, where most of the world’s gold is mined, regulations are lax, cyanide is commonly (and carelessly) used to separate gold from waste rock, and children work under unsafe conditions, literally scratching out a living from the earth. These problems have been well-documented by NGOS and by reporters for the New York Times, which did a great series on gold in 2005, and more recently in this fine investigative article by the Associated Press.

But corporate America is responding with an ambitious effort to reform the mining industry, led by Tiffany & Co., Wal-Mart, independent jewelers and NGOS. Forward-thinking mining...

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The Environmental Working Group looked at nearly 1,000 sunscreen products and found that “4 out of 5 contain chemicals that may pose health hazards or don’t adequately protect skin from the sun’s damaging rays.

The Natural Resources Defense Council analyzed household air fresheners and found that “most contain chemicals that may affect hormones and reproductive development, particularly in babies.

The EPA was so concerned about keeping rodenticides—rat and mouse poisons—out of the hands of children that the agency ruled this spring that four of the most most hazardous types of pesticides will no longer be sold for personal use

These days, it seems like you can’t open the...

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I’m growing tired of reading (and writing) about companies that are “going green,” except if the company is named Wal-Mart or GE or has an outsized influence on its industry. Far more interesting is the question of how entire industries and markets can be transformed so they become more sustainable.

This is happening, albeit slowly, in several industries—fishing and forestry come to mind—but what’s caught my attention lately are some significant changes coming to the TV industry. I’m not talking about trends in TV news or programming (which I covered for many years) but about recyling old TVs.

Last week, LG Electronics USA, the North American unit of the big Korean...

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I type with four fingers of my left hand and one on my right. Fast.

"If you worked at Intel," Will Swope told me the other day, "we'd be talking to you about carpal tunnel syndrome."

Swope's paid to notice this kind of thing. He is vice president for corporate affairs at Intel, a $37-billion a year tech giant, which means he oversees corporate social responsibility, environmental policy, philanthropy, community projects-and safety.

We met the other day in Intel's Washington office. Swope is 62, a 29-year veteran of Intel with a bushy white mustache and a big personality. He was in town for a black-tie dinner at which Intel gave away college scholarships to students who win a...

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The risks -- and even the potential risks -- of toxic chemicals in products that we encounter every day has quickly become one of the biggest, most complex and controversial issues facing businesses today.

If you're the parent of a pre-teen boy, you probably paid attention the news that a manufacturer of Thomas the Tank Engine trains recalled more than two dozen toys because the red and green paint used to decorate more than 1.5 million of them contains lead which, if ingested by kids, can cause long-term health problems.

California, meanwhile, passed legislation recently that aims to ban chemical compounds known as phthalates -- they make plastic more plastic, or softer -- from...

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