BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Last week, over 2,000 representatives from our global community of sustainability practitioners, brand strategists, product and service innovators, thought leaders and other change-makers converged at SB’18 Vancouver to share their latest insights on a multitude of themes pertinent to all of those committed to improving business around the world. Here, we dig into brand and organizational efforts to get consumers to deliver their part of the equation, through responsible consumption.
P&G: The road to responsible consumption
By Marissa Rosen
LEADERSHIP -
Last week, over 2,000 representatives from our global community of sustainability practitioners, brand strategists, product and service innovators, thought leaders and other change-makers converged at SB’18 Vancouver to share their latest insights on a multitude of themes pertinent to all of those committed to improving business around the world. Here, we dig into a topic at the heart of all lasting change: Transformational leadership.
WASTE NOT -
It’s a tough time to be a plastic straw producer. Over the past few months, it seems the message has broken through that plastic straws are harmful to the environment – and marine life in particular – that phase outs and bans are warranted.
PRESS RELEASE -
Today Procter & Gamble (P&G) announced presentations given on new research into sustainability innovations for its Tide® laundry detergent. The presentations discussed the potential for improved cleaning performance in cold water conditions with detergents containing a patented branched surfactant. While machine washing in cold water can reduce a household’s energy footprint, detergents may not perform as well on this setting, which can compel consumers to use more energy and water to compensate.
Tide Research Fellow Phillip Vinson, PhD, and Tide Senior Scientist Patrick Stenger, PhD, gave presentations at the 2018 American Oil Chemists Society Annual Meeting and the 22nd International Symposium on Surfactants in Solution, respectively.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Recycle Now, a WRAP campaign that helps people in the UK recycle more things, more often, has launched a new communications toolkit for local authorities and partners, introducing a social norming messaging style designed to motivate citizen behavior change to improve recycling.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Throughout the week at SB’18 Vancouver, a host of organizations shared a range of strategies for making meaningful and lasting connections with customers and other stakeholders, while improving their contributions to society.
BUSINESS CASE -
The Dow Chemical Company’s newly released 2017 Sustainability Report details its progress against its goals for 2025, including surpassing the year’s target for savings and revenue from projects that are “better for ecosystems.” Such projects generated $120 million in cost savings and new cash flow in 2017 against the goal to reach $1 billion by 2025.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Jennifer Motles Svigilsky detests cigarettes. But she recently began focusing on the ambitious vision to help 1.1B smokers quit smoking within a generation. Which is how she found herself in front of a crowded room at SB’18 Vancouver, representing one of the world’s largest cigarette companies.
WASTE NOT -
Today at SB’18 Vancouver, The North Face will announce the launch of The North Face Renewed — a collection of refurbished products for consumers who want to access affordable gear and reduce their environmental impact. All “Renewed” items — which are sourced from returned, defective or damaged apparel — have been thoroughly inspected, cleaned and refurbished to The North Face quality and performance standards.
COLLABORATION -
Yesterday at SB'18 Vancouver, Kevin Hagen — VP of Environment, Social and Governance Strategy at Iron Mountain — and Dimitar Vlahov, Director of Content Development at Sustainable Brands (SB), offered a sneak peek at the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap (SM). Built for an executive audience, the first-of-its-kind Roadmap is a framework any organization can use as a compass towards setting goals and measuring progress towards becoming a truly "sustainable brand."
LEADERSHIP -
The world is complex and interconnected. When we pull one lever in a system, it ripples throughout. Pull the right levers and you can solve some of the most complex problems, pull the wrong one and it can be disastrous. This is why it is critical to take a systems approach when solving complex, or what Sally Uren, CEO at Forum of the Future, calls “wicked” problems.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Vancouver edition of the international event will be held on June 4-7
São Paulo, June 4, 2018 – During this first week of June, Braskem is participating in the Vancouver edition of Sustainable Brands, one of the most important events in the sustainability calendar, as a sponsor and key presenter and exhibitor at the Good Materials & Packaging Pavilion. The company will take the opportunity of the trade fair to showcase its latest concept in recycled plastic resins.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
L’Oréal USA announced today that five products in its Garnier SkinActive line have achieved Cradle to Cradle Certified™ SILVER recognition. The product line, manufactured at L’Oréal USA’s facility in Franklin, New Jersey, earned this certification based on an evaluation of material health, material reutilization, renewable energy and carbon management, water stewardship and social fairness practices. Garnier is the first mass market skincare brand to receive this certification for its products and is also one of the few skincare brands to have multiple products certified in a portfolio.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Today, along with the release of its 2017 Shared Goodness Corporate Social Responsibility report, The Hershey Company unveiled Shared Goodness Promise, a new CSR strategy aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and centered around investments, collaborative programs and sustainable business practices aimed at making a positive difference in peoples’ lives.
PRESS RELEASE -
A self-proclaimed “complexity junkie,” Monique Oxender, Keurig Green Mountain’s Chief Sustainability Officer, doesn’t bat an eye at tackling big, complicated issues. From the future of coffee to the recyclability of Keurig’s pods, Oxender and her team have provided innovative solutions to complex issues across the value chain — all while embodying Keurig’s signature focus on collaboration.
PRESS RELEASE -
The SB Brand Transformation RoadmapSM launches today at SB’18 Vancouver as a pioneering self-assessment tool that provides a comprehensive process plan for continuous improvement in sustainability. A first of its kind, it is specifically designed for mainstream brands and businesses who are navigating their journey towards more sustainable business practices.
WALKING THE TALK -
This morning, from the main stage at SB’18 Vancouver, Max Burgers’ Chief Sustainability Officer, Kaj Török, announced that the Swedish burger chain is set to offer the world’s first climate-positive burgers. Török said that customers will soon be able to “take a bite that’s good for the planet as well as their taste-buds” when eating at the quick-serve burger chain, and urged other companies to join Max in going climate positive.
NEW METRICS -
More and more clothing brands are taking it upon themselves to dive deeper into the impacts of their garments, increasing transparency around and improving their materials, processes and operations as a whole.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Consumers want simple solutions. They need simple messages. And yet when it comes to truly sustainable products and packaging, the reality is quite complex and often requires consumer behaviour change. Leading brands are increasingly investing significant resources to develop and implement innovative solutions that ensure a sustainable lifecycle for products and packaging. The same brands then face a communication challenge: How should they effectively tell their story of progress and innovation in a simple and compelling way that both informs and leads to behaviour change?
PRESS RELEASE -
BOSTON – June 4, 2018 –Iron Mountain® Incorporated (NYSE: IRM), the global leader in storage and information management services, today announced two important environmental commitments that significantly advance the company’s efforts to reduce its carbon footprint and increase its usage of renewable energy around the world.