Innovative Competitions--Motivation to Change

The article, “Can Open Innovation Save the Planet,” gives great insight into how to motivate companies to go more green. Through the Eco-Challenge Series (open innovation competitions) hosted by the Environmental Defense Fund and one of the leading innovation research companies, InnoCentive, businesses have the opportunity to become more eco-friendly while accelerating their business. The goal of this competition is to create more environmentally friendly means of producing and distributing goods while helping the company also maximize revenue through creating new markets, enhancing their brand, etc. They have had successful innovations such as redesigned packaging of McDonald’s, hybrid trucks with FedEx, and next generation solar technology with Walmart. All of these innovations have become a model for other companies to follow.

            InnoCentive brings together the world’s most creative thinkers to solve the tough environmental challenges we are facing today. I think this is a very good way to approach the environmental challenge. With many innovators working together so much more will be developed. Not only this but it allows companies to be pushed in the right direction when they might not have otherwise. For example, because of McDonald’s partnership with the ESF and InnoCentive, it was able to reduce it’s sandwich packaging by 70-90%, reduce paper use by 21%, and more. McDonald's eliminated over 300 million pounds of packaging, recycled 1 million tons of corrugated boxes, and reduced restaurant waste by 30 percent. This not only is tremendously better for the environment but also saved the company an estimated 6 million dollars per year.

            This type of innovation is definitely replicable as many companies can follow these innovations that McDonald’s has had, as well those that other companies have had. Through the challenge series, many more unique ideas can be discovered and applied by other companies. This gives me hope in that companies have an incentive to go green as it can help them with gaining more revenue. If more green innovators teamed up with companies and tried to figure out viable solutions to help both the environment and their business, I am sure their would be a lot less energy used, waste produced, and a lot less strain on the environment.

The article can be found at:

http://www.fastcompany.com/1730712/can-open-innovation-save-the-planet