Sustainability impact stories

“Telem” means “safe space” in Sierra Leone. The music collective Telem Uncommon Sounds is trying to create just that, nurturing a more open and experimental creative community in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Working with musicians, government, and other ecosystem stakeholders, Telem works to provide more...

As a city planning student at MIT, Dasjon Jordan, SM ’19, served on the boards of the Department of Urban Studies and Planning Student Council and the Students of Color Committee. He wanted to complete an Action Learning project before he graduated, but his packed schedule of classes and activities ...

As the newly minted senior director of recycling and sustainability at Staples Stores, Mike Sauchuk’s first challenge was to develop a strategy that moved the company’s green initiatives forward and also aligned with its business objectives. After learning about the Sustainability Initiative at MIT ...

Atlanta, Georgia-based EnviroSpark Energy Solutions designs, installs, and operates EV charging solutions, typically at multi-family housing and corporate office centers. As the growing startup continued expanding its national footprint, they enlisted MIT Sloan Enterprise Management Lab (EM-Lab) stu...

The City of Leuven, Belgium sought to leverage digital technologies and advanced analytics to promote sustainable urban mobility. To make this happen, the city collaborated with global digital engineering company and Smart Industry leader Akkodis – and a team of Master of Business Analytics (MBAn) s...

Climate tech company BlocPower specializes in residential building electrification, which improves human health and reduces healthcare costs. But no funding exists to link electrification to preventative healthcare efforts. A team of S-Lab students stepped in to help BlocPower make the link.

Takeda is a global biopharmaceutical corporation with an ambitious zero-waste-to-landfill goal. BioLife, a subsidiary of Takeda, sought to develop prioritized recycling strategies in support of Takeda’s sustainability pledge and goals. A team of three Sustainable Business Lab (S-Lab) students tackle...

Floodlight, a geospatial data intelligence company that provides ESG governance insights, asked a team of E-Lab students to identify potential new market segments and design potential customer discovery interviews. According to CEO and co-founder Nate Wyne, the project resulted in a "full redirectio...

As part of their 2025 Sustainability and Social Impact Strategy, Colgate is working towards its goal for 100% of its packaging to be recyclable, reusable, or compostable by 2025. As such, Colgate worked with a team of S-Lab students on a project for their French business to develop innovative ways f...

RenewCO2 is an emerging company that designs processes for converting carbon dioxide into useful industrial products. Recently, the company tapped two students from MIT Sloan's Entrepreneurship Lab (E-Lab) to investigate the potential market for formic acid, a compound that could be useful in a vari...