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Interface

Our journey started in 1994 with one person, our Founder and Chairman Ray Anderson. Ray challenged our then 21 year - old company to adopt a bold vision, one that required new thinking and a new model for business. We didn't have a map, but Ray's vision was a compass for our journey. As we progressed on our journey, a passion for sustainability took hold with our people and our company was transformed.

Interface

Interface is tagged in 101 stories. Page 4 of 6.
What Now? How Businesses Are Rallying to Action After COP21
What Now? How Businesses Are Rallying to Action After COP21

8 years ago - As evidenced by the unprecedented private-sector engagement in COP21 earlier this month, businesses globally get that they need to innovate (and improve!) their products, services and business models to combat climate change, resource scarcity and unpredictable futures. Aside from the alignment of 195 nations on a climate-action agreement, what did all the talk at COP21 amount to from a business perspective? A lot of initiatives that push forward change and collaboration. But is it all smoke and mirrors, and toothless pledges, or is there real action brewing?

The Power of Positive: New eBook Explores Concept, Practice of Net Positive Movement
The Power of Positive: New eBook Explores Concept, Practice of Net Positive Movement

9 years ago - A new eBook encapsulates the key learnings of a recent week-long digital ThinkTank (virtual dialogue) conducted on the Convetit online engagement platform, which grappled with many of the thorny questions emerging from early practice of Net Positive business.

When It Really Isn’t Business as Usual: Can There be Principle Without “Principle?”: Part II
When It Really Isn’t Business as Usual: Can There be Principle Without “Principle?”: Part II

9 years ago - Years before the surprising examples of bold sustainable business actions discussed in Part 1, we had the writings of Jem Bendell, Wayne Visser, John Elkington and Jeffrey Hollender, who have long seen the limitations of c

Interface Set to Scale 'Net-Works' Program That Turns Fishing Nets Into Carpet
Interface Set to Scale 'Net-Works' Program That Turns Fishing Nets Into Carpet

9 years ago - Net-Works, a social entrepreneurship initiative from carpet manufacturer Interface and conservation charity Zoological Society of London (ZSL), has since 2012 collected more than 66,860 kilos of nets from residents in 14 collection sites in Danajon Bank and the Bantayan Islands, according to a recent announcement.In addition, the program has yielded 508 memberships in community banks, with the opportunity to earn supplemental income through the sale of nets, as well as access to financial infrastructure via locally-established CoMSCAs (Community Managed Credit and Savings Associations) or local microfinance initiatives.

Plenaries Explore Myriad Approaches to Creating 'Abundance Without Waste' on #SB15sd Day 3
Plenaries Explore Myriad Approaches to Creating 'Abundance Without Waste' on #SB15sd Day 3

9 years ago - Raphael Bemporad, Founding Partner and Chief Strategy Officer at BBMG, kicked off Wednesday’s SB ‘15 San Diego plenaries by anchoring the day’s conversation in the human story. As the day’s moderator, he asked attendees to wonder what it would mean to design brands for humans — not merely consumers — through a lens of “abundance without waste” and set the stage for plenary discussions focused on design, innovation and leadership.

Unilever, WWF, Germany Named Sector Leaders in Driving Sustainability Agenda
Unilever, WWF, Germany Named Sector Leaders in Driving Sustainability Agenda

9 years ago - Globescan and SustainAbility released their 2015 Sustainability Leaders survey today, asking experts to assess the progress that various institutions have made in advancing sustainable development since the historic Earth Summit in 1992.Results drawn from 816 sustainability experts across 82 countries indicate a positive perception of non-state actors and lack of confidence in the leadership of national governments. NGOs’ sustainability contribution is ranked highest among those polled, followed by social entrepreneurs, independent academic organizations, social change movements, and multi-sector collaborations.

SB '15 Barcelona Launch Welcomes Ever-Growing Consortium of Sustainability Thought Leaders
SB '15 Barcelona Launch Welcomes Ever-Growing Consortium of Sustainability Thought Leaders

9 years ago - Boy, do they know how to get excited about innovation in Barcelona.Many of our corporate members, international partners, and sustainability thought leaders are still recovering from what was an amazing Sustainable Brands global conference launch last week in Spain.In partnership with Quiero Salvar El Mundo Haciendo Marketing, Sustainable Brands ’15 Barcelona — now our third European conference — launched with over 300 attendees and an overwhelming energy, enthusiasm and effort.

The Roadmap Series, Phase III: From Personality to Process
The Roadmap Series, Phase III: From Personality to Process

9 years ago - Almost every company I have known to start down a formal path of sustainable business strategy has had the benefit of a passionate advocate for change.

Starbucks' 'Race Together' Campaign Creates Social Media Firestorm
Starbucks' 'Race Together' Campaign Creates Social Media Firestorm

9 years ago - Companies, especially publicly owned corporations, carefully manage their image and messages. But this age of social media, changes in consumer tastes and demands for increased transparency have caused more companies to be bolder, especially when it comes to sustainability and social responsibility issues. One such company is Starbucks, which has often taken controversial stances on the Affordable Healthcare Act, minimum wage and now, race relations.

Starting Now: A Smarter Approach to Sustainability Management
Starting Now: A Smarter Approach to Sustainability Management

9 years ago - The importance of sustainability has surged over the last two decades, as has the amount of information available and the demands on companies and practitioners – from regulators, customers and investors. At the same time, the new opportunities that have emerged are enormous.

Georgia Tech Commits to Ambitious Sustainable Community Engagement Initiative
Georgia Tech Commits to Ambitious Sustainable Community Engagement Initiative

9 years ago - Within a few years, every undergrad at the Georgia Institute of Technology could understand what it means to create sustainable communities.That’s the goal of a new institute-wide initiative called Serve•Learn•Sustain.

Measuring Sustainability, Part III: How a Sustainability Index Can Optimize Decision-Making
Measuring Sustainability, Part III: How a Sustainability Index Can Optimize Decision-Making

9 years ago - In the first two parts of this series, we explored the motivations behind creating a sustainability index, and the steps to take when creating an index. In this final part of the series, we will explore how organizations can deploy an index to make consistent decisions to support a sustainability strategy.After the index has been designed and created, the next task is to deploy it into the decisions-making structure. Let’s explore some examples of how other organizations have deployed this approach to make more sustainable products.

Brands That Treat Customers Like Idiots Are Not Sustainable
Brands That Treat Customers Like Idiots Are Not Sustainable

9 years ago - At SB ‘14 London last month, one thing that really stood out for me was the focus on how storytelling can be used to help brands engage their customers with the theme of sustainability. For example, on the first morning of the first day, Daianna Karaian and Stuart Duncan from Futerra ran a workshop that focused on how to tell a sustainable brand story that customers will listen to.

Dear SB Vanguard: How Can Companies Measure ROI of Investments in Worker Well-Being?
Dear SB Vanguard: How Can Companies Measure ROI of Investments in Worker Well-Being?

9 years ago - This is the latest in a series of posts in which we will poll our global community of business leaders and practitioners — what we call the “SB Vanguard” — on a variety of issues pertinent to the evolving sustainable business landscape.IKEA and GAP have both raised their minimum wage; Starbucks is now subsidizing employee education; and H&M is fighting for higher worker wages in both Cambodia and Bangladesh ... Despite the expected added brand value, it must be a challenge to justify such a dramatic and costly shift.So we asked the SB Vanguard: How can more companies make the business case internally for prioritizing such investments in employee and worker well-being? And how could companies go about measuring the ROI?

Waste to Wear: The Pathway to a Global Circular Economy
Waste to Wear: The Pathway to a Global Circular Economy

10 years ago - With global fiber consumption expected to reach 96.4 million tons by 2020, it has become apparent that a linear economy where we produce, consume and dispose of products after a one-time use is not sustainable. Through Aquafil’s various collaborations with carpet and apparel industries, we’ve noticed an increased trend towards the use of sustainable materials and fabrics in product manufacturing. Companies that are looking to move beyond recycled post-consumer waste are starting to shift towards suppliers that are taking a unique but sustainable approach to production, such as the implementation of closed-loop manufacturing systems.

Four 'Forces for Good' We Can Leverage to Inform Human Capital Value
Four 'Forces for Good' We Can Leverage to Inform Human Capital Value

10 years ago - "Too much of what led up to the crisis in the old bubble days — the conspicuous consumption, the latter-day Gatsbyism — was fueled by a need to fill a huge emotional and psychological void left by the absence of meaningful work. When people cease to find meaning in work, when work is boring, alienating, and dehumanizing, the only option becomes the urge to consume — to buy happiness off the shelf, a phenomenon we now know cannot suffice in the long term.”

10 *Firsts* Coming Up at #NewMetrics '14
10 *Firsts* Coming Up at #NewMetrics '14

10 years ago - As we get closer to my personal favorite among the growing list of Sustainable Brands events — New Metrics, this year in collaboration with the MIT Sloan School of Management — I am finding it hard not to engage complete strangers on the street in excited attempts to share bits and pieces of the powerful program we have put together. Without trying to be too self-congratulatory about it, allow me to let some of that energy out by sharing 10 highlights — more specifically, 10 firsts — that will take place in the New Metrics plenary program in just over two weeks. All of these highlights will deliver either exclusive launches or results presented for the first time to a live audience. Here go the teasers:

How a Life Cycle-Driven Business Model Can Increase Sustainable Impact
How a Life Cycle-Driven Business Model Can Increase Sustainable Impact

10 years ago - There are now a rash of sustainable business models — sharing economy, eco-design, circular economy and many others — all with their good points and their fifteen minutes of fame. Even if companies have good products and a thorough understanding of their customers’ needs, using the wrong business model means not all of them succeed in achieving their sustainability business goals.Know What Your Hotspots Are

Life-Size Living™: How to Find Meaning Within Our Means Once More
Life-Size Living™: How to Find Meaning Within Our Means Once More

10 years ago - The time when we were happily seduced into reaching far, far beyond our means with a promise of infinite everything and the glittering lure of a‘larger-than-life’ life, seems, to some of us at least, quite archaic now.But even in our socially enlightened, austerity-shredded, community-conscious, light-speed-connected present, we still struggle to get to grips with a smarter, lighter, less financially and materially burdensome style of life.We’re all still living ‘larger-than-life’ lives. We seem to struggle to find meaning in the things that exist comfortably within our means.

How Natural Capital Accounting Can Become Your Newest Communications Tool
How Natural Capital Accounting Can Become Your Newest Communications Tool

10 years ago - Natural capital accounting is growing in popularity. Trucost has worked with more than 50 clients on how natural capital valuation can help them become more sustainable businesses.