Vinte aims to build
homes that are
both affordable for
Mexico’s middle
class and environ-
mentally friendly.
The 40,000 homes
it has sold since
2002 include fea-
tures such as solar
panels and ther-
mal insulation that
reduce electricity
costs by as much
as 77%. New de-
velopments also
include schools
and hospitals,
boosting the long-
term value of
these properties.
The third-largest
agricultural coop-
erative in the U.S.
is better known for
dairy farmers and
tractors than for
supercomputers.
But it took incred-
ible computing
power (from Ama-
zon) to crunch the
impact of 30 years
of weather data
on 100,000 dif-
ferent soil types
and varied crops,
all to create an A.I.
app that can make
farming both more
profitable and bet-
ter for the envi-
ronment. Rolled
out in September
2018, the Truterra
Insights Engine
is in use at about
3,000 farms. Uti-
lizing detailed sat-
ellite maps; data
from other farm-
ing apps; and the
results of weather,
soil, and crop sim-
ulations, Truterra
analyzes pre-
cisely how each
part of a field
should be treated.
A farmer can add
more or less fer-
tilizer where soil
conditions vary,
use cover crops
to minimize ero-
sion, or even leave
ground unplanted
if Truterra says it’s
a money-losing
patch. That leads
to less waste, less
runoff, and less
soil erosion—plus
higher profits.
This multinational,
which has lately
focused on health
care products, has
made huge strides
in reducing its en-
ergy use—it aims
to reach carbon
neutrality in 2020,
relying on wind to
power facilities in
the U.S. and the
Netherlands. It’s
also building more
products for min-
imal energy use,
at large scale (MRI
systems in hos-
pitals) and small
(rechargeable
toothbrushes).
The outdoor gear
and apparel com-
pany is an un-
flinching advocate
for the environ-
ment. Since 2002,
it has donated
1% of revenue
to green causes.
But it’s also tack-
ling its own plas-
tic problem head
on. Patagonia
has committed to
making 69% of its
clothes from re-
cycled materials,
and it’s research-
ing how to reduce
shedding of pol-
luting microfibers.
The scourge of
cancer doesn’t
limit itself to cit-
ies, but too often,
high-quality treat-
ment does. The
Icon Group, Aus-
tralia’s largest pri-
vate cancer care
provider, aims to
reach patients
close to home—
whether they’re in
Southeast Asia or
rural Australia—
through telemedi-
cine, remote radi-
ation therapy, and
partnerships in
underserved
markets.
NO. 48
Patagonia
Recycling to
make a green
brand greener.
VENTURA, CALIF.
NO. 47
Icon Group
Cancer care, if
docs are rare.
BRISBANE,
AUSTRALIA
NO. 44
Vinte
Viviendas
Building whole
communities.
TECÁMAC, MEXICO
NO. 45
Land O’Lakes
An A.I.-driven
app gives
farms an edge.
ARDEN HILLS, MINN.
NO. 43
Philips
Nearing a
carbon-neutral
milestone.
AMSTERDAM
46
NO.
A guard on patrol for poachers at a game preserve
near South Africa’s Kruger National Park.
High-Tech Protection
for a Threatened Species
A telecommunications firm deploys sensor-
driven surveillance to stop rhino poaching.
TOKYO
NTT
Rangers in South Africa noticed a
horrible thing around 2011: They were
losing a lot of rhinoceroses. The species,
long considered a relative conserva-
tion success story, was rather suddenly
under aggressive attack—not from the
typical local poacher looking to get by, but from organized
crime groups harvesting their horns for sale. By 2015, South
Africa—home to nearly 80% of the world’s roughly 30,000
remaining rhinos—estimated it was losing a rhino to poach-
ers every eight hours. Enter NTT, the Japanese telecom-
munications firm, which that year set up its technology at
one of the country’s private game reserves. Rather than use
drones and guards to track animals, NTT, working with Cisco,
a two-time Change the World list honoree, set up sensor-
powered surveillance equipment to help rangers com-
municate and monitor the humans coming and going from
the reserve. The results were dramatic—reducing poaching
incidents on the reserve by 96% in the first two years, drop-
ping fence crossing and cutting to almost zero, and lowering
security response time on the 6,200-hectare reserve to
seven minutes. NTT has since spread these efforts to other
reserves across Africa.
CHANGE
THE
WORLD
COURTESY OF NT T
