13 Hot Sustainable Products To Follow in 2013

"Hottest" lists have been making a comeback lately, and here we are with a few of our own! Inspired by our community's intensifying surge of new business value, creativity and the resulting solutions taking us toward a more sustainable economy, we would like to turn your attention to some key developments worth following — and acting on — in the corporate sustainability space this year. We are grouping them in four lists, and will be publishing them one at a time over the course of several days. Today we start with a look at 13 hot products that not only achieve drastic reductions in environmental and social impacts in their categories, but also have the potential to ultimately transform their entire industries. Here we go:

1. PUMA's InCycle collection, which includes footwear, apparel and accessories that need not be tossed in the trash at the end of their useful life, but can rather easily be turned into biological nutrients or taken apart for metals, textiles and plastic to be reused in making other products (or more InCycle products). Particularly note-worthy in the InCycle collection are this T-Shirt and theseBasket Sneakers, both of which are fully compostable
2. 3M's highly intriguing Scotch-Brite Greener Clean Sponge, which boasts a composition of 100% plant-based fiber. Not just any old plant material, but agave plants — which typically take up to 10 years to grow, consuming lots of energy and water in the process — most of which, once the useful juice is used to make tequila, used to go to waste until 3M's scientists stepped in.

Click here to read more about Sustianable Brand's "13 Hot Sustainable Products to Follow in 2013"