Molly Willows

Note: this was ghostwritten for Noah Kalson at Bright Data.

Were the hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt humanity’s original form of “big data” collection?

Many people believe that cave paintings were made specifically to record and store vast amounts of complex information, including things like maps, astronomical charts, and population data. It makes sense: human instinct has long sought to organize and understand the world that surrounds us.

Welcome to the web data revolution. It’s often said that the modern gold rush won’t be mi...

The sharing economy splashed onto the scene after the financial recession of 2008 and the emergence of new technologies to facilitate it.

Today, the conversation around the sharing economy has dwindled somewhat, but it’s more important now than ever to assess it in tandem with the climate crisis—especially given a sharing economy and sustainability are closely interlinked.

While a decade ago, pundits, critics, and enthusiasts alike wrote tomes on the warnings and potentials of a sharing econo...

What is the purpose of the B Corp distinction for businesses?

Companies ranging in size and influence–including Ben & Jerrys, Patagonia, Danone, Toms, Aesop, Kickstarter, and more recently, Nespresso, are but a sample of the 3500+ companies in 77+ countries to be accredited with their certification.

For-profit businesses with the B Corp certification should demonstrate they adhere to the triple bottom line: that is, they strive for both profit and purpose and promote positive change in their ...

You’ve probably heard the term buzzing around sustainability circles and responsible runways, but what is sustainable fashion?

As it turns out, it’s a bit more complicated than simply staying on trend with the latest silhouettes and color palettes—especially given the environmental destruction, human rights abuses, and rampant greenwashing that make it difficult to discern truly sustainable and ethical fashion.

In a neutral-colored nutshell, our sustainable fashion definition is this:

What is green innovation?

The green innovation meaning is any invention or application that creates products, processes, or services that reduce the harm and destruction of the environment while leveraging natural resources and sustainable energy in a circular manner.

So while it can be easy to get dragged into dreaded Doomsville and eco-anxiety in a world seemingly (and sometimes literally) on fire, there is such an abundance of green innovative solutions out there today significantly reshap...

During my time as design & production studio Tendril's Director of Communications (2014-17), I held responsibility for all internal and external communications. Here is a small sampling of that in the form of a regular e-newsletter as part of their branded content marketing that I published on their behalf.

This piece was part of the Guardian's Formative Years series, where writers reflected on their college experience. I was personally invited to write this first person essay, which went viral and continues as one of their most-read pieces to date.

There's no denying it -- docs are hot. Between HBO's high-gloss productions, Netflix's rise in documentaries, the influx of Kickstarter/Indieigogo campaigns, and the democratization of filmmaking gear via iPhones and cheap cameras, docs are everywhere. So you dream of making a doc?

When all our trips were halted in 2020, the New York Times heralded an incoming new phase of sustainable tourism: regenerative travel.

Flash forward three years later, and conscious travel is on the move. Regenerative travel is now more than a buzzword or trending millennial fad.

But what is regenerative travel? Is it even possible for travel to be less harmful, let alone actually beneficial?

Over the last few decades, tourism didn’t earn the best reputation.

Interference with nature led to h...

Note: this was ghostwritten for Noah Kalson at Bright Data.

What happens when 15 data professionals get together to create content?

That’s right, The Iron Analyst!

Technology to progress is like lighter fluid to the bonfire, and in this instance we did start the fire, but few leaps of advancement exemplify this more than 3d printing, which — has the potential to truly revitalize the planet.

As 3D printing becomes mainstream, so too does the hope that it can accelerate efficiency gains, reduce costs and progress sustainability more than ever before.

Is 3D printing sustainable?

According to a European Commission study, by 2050 3D printing (also referred t...

When discussing renewable energy sustainability (and why it matters) a powerful image comes to mind, conjured from the award-winning documentary film Up the Yangtze.

In the film, a cruise ship of mostly American tourists and Chinese locals displaced by the Three Gorges Dam hydroelectric project travel up the Yangtze River, together exploring the marvels and mayhem of a modernizing China.

One of the most hotly contested projects of its time, the Three Gorges Dam submerged thousands-year old vi...

This was my documentary film treatment for my award-winning short documentary film and thesis project, "Before the Wave," featuring the Moken, a stateless nomadic tribe of indigenous peoples of the Andaman Sea.

Sustainable products should be an imperative and not a privilege, and yet the cost of sustainability means it largely remains the latter.
Now more than ever, brands and consumers alike are being called to acknowledge how the ruling class is largely responsible for moving the needle on sustainability into a popular movement.
While this has its benefits, it has also ignored the experience of those marginalized communities it claims to help advance.
Sustainability advocate and Slow Factory found...

Who knew the household cleaning aisle was such a mess?
As if motivation to house-clean wasn’t tough enough, learning that most conventional cleaners dirty our environment with toxins more than they eliminate messes makes us want to throw in the proverbial (dirty) towel.
Research indicates that hazardous chemicals lurk in more products than we realize: 53% of cleaners contain ingredients known to harm the lungs, and 22% contain asthma-causing chemicals.
Those with volatile organic compounds (V...