Building a Better, Greener Mousetrap and Being Recognized for It

Innovation nets its own rewards—build a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door, as Ralph Waldo Emerson famously said—but being recognized for it doesn’t hurt a bit.

Many manufacturers have realized the rewards that come as a result of eco innovation.

Developing new ways to reinforce a green life cycle by using commonly used and recycled industrial and retail packaging materials as your product’s raw materials, as did Cascades Tissue Group, brings rewards in the form of more widely available materials and reduced costs.

Building a new intelligent variable-speed drive that saves your customers energy, and thus, cost, as did Bosch-Rexroth, can only drive business forward.

Growing a type of roofing system that facilitates storm water retention and provides quantifiable cooling benefits, as did Bioroof Systems, solves problems and creates a healthy, sustainable environment.

Yes, innovation creates its own party, but when it comes to celebrating innovation in sustainability, we at Green Manufacturer think that there is no such thing as too much of a good thing, so we decided to recognize the innovations too.

Read “Green Manufacturer Product Innovation Awards,” http://www.greenmanufacturer.net/article/management/green-manufacturer-product-innovation-awards, and in the July/August issue, to learn more about the industry leaders and the products that won gold, silver, bronze, and honorable mentions in our 2013 Green Manufacturer Product Innovation Awards competition.

Those of you who are currently in development of a better green mousetrap may be next year’s award contenders. The 2014 Green Manufacturer Product Innovation Awards competition will be announced next spring. Products developed and market-introduced between May 1, 2013 to April 30, 2014 may be submitted for award consideration.