WALKING THE TALK -
Brands should take note of a new retail sustainability trend that responds to growing consumer demand for healthier products and full ingredient disclosure.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
A first-of-its-kind, global shopping platform, Loop™ aims to offer zero-waste packaging options for the world’s most popular consumer products.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Businesses and manufacturers will pay the full cost of recycling or disposing of their packaging waste, under a major new government strategy unveiled late last month by the UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
US-based multinational 3M launches approximately 1,000 new products each year; starting in 2019, 100 percent of them will have sustainability built in: Today, at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP24), 3M announced its first formal requirement that, beginning in 2019, all new products will include a Sustainability Value Commitment that demonstrates how they drive impact for the greater good.
PRESS RELEASE -
How2Recycle today announced Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc. – one of the world's largest consumer wellness and personal care products companies – has joined the growing list of companies adopting the How2Recycle label. The company will start by using the on-package recycling label on many of its baby products, including baby lotion, baby shampoo, and baby wash. The label will help make recycling easier for busy parents, by providing specific instructions on how each product can be recycled.
PRESS RELEASE -
The term ‘sustainable company’ is thrown around quite loosely and frequently these days. It seems to be one of the bigger buzzwords of the decade. At the core of this trend, lies a joined consensus between consumers and the general public: they are not satisfied with businesses that focus only on short-term profit maximization. People tend to stay loyal to businesses that are far more considerate of human needs and the environment in general. LG Electronics (LG), is heavily invested in creating innovative industry-leading products focused on creating sustainable domestic home-living for its trend-setting consumers.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Kickstarter PBC and the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) today unveiled new features on Kickstarter aimed at helping innovators evaluate and reduce the environmental impact of their products from the concept stage.
Kickstarter and EDF worked together to develop an information hub called the Environmental Resource Center, as well as a space where project creators are asked to publicly commit to environmental practices. These features will help thousands of people create sustainable products by embedding environmental considerations into the early planning stages.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Much has been said about how to grow a company and sustain that growth over time. From building a sales funnel and forming strategic partnerships to implementing the right IT systems and establishing parameters for how employees interact with each other, with management and customers, there is no shortage of advice.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
On Friday, Montreal’s McGill University announced the opening of the Bensadoun School of Retail Management (BSRM) — a hub for students, researchers and practitioners to work collaboratively towards bringing retailers into the 21st century. An interdisciplinary, forward-looking school dedicated to all facets of the retail industry, its research and programming will focus on fostering sustainable consumption and healthy societies.
WASTE NOT -
The global movement to end textile waste continues, with the release of outer- and undergarments from new and established brands alike.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
A growing roster of celebrities are no longer satisfied with endorsing corporate products, instead creating (or at least investing in) their own. Think George Clooney, Dr.
PRESS RELEASE -
Tide has reimagined its classic liquid detergent with a new Eco-Box package containing an ultra-concentrated formula designed for eCommerce. The Tide Eco-Box has been in development for the past year and was revealed today at P&G’s headquarters in Cincinnati.
The Tide Eco-Box arrives on a consumer’s doorstep in a sealed, shipping-safe cardboard box. Inside the box is a sealed bag of ultra-compacted Tide liquid laundry detergent. To use, consumers peel off the cardboard flap to reveal a dosing cup and a new “no-drip” twist tap. To make dosing simpler on flat surfaces, the box includes a pull-out stand to raise the height of the box so the cup fits easily beneath the tap.
PRESS RELEASE -
LG Electronics has been named 2018 Industry Leader by the globally recognized Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI). This top ranking in the highly competitive consumer electronics category follows LG’s track record of four consecutive years of recognition as a DJSI Industry Group Leader.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Early marketing for products promising sustainability was all about what they “weren’t.” Tofurky wasn’t meat. Soy milk wasn’t dairy. Solar wasn’t coal.
Positioning against the negative helped companies attract consumers who were revolting against the polluting impacts of standard manufacturing practices and products. But doing so ignored what potential customers still wanted, whether a product was sustainable or not: delicious taste, high performance, reliable quality and comfort, and overall satisfaction.
Consider the ominous ads for the first Prius, which started running in 2001. The only virtue they extolled was fuel efficiency, and portrayed oil drills as monsters.
WASTE NOT -
Consumers are increasingly told to recycle more, say ‘no’ to plastic straws, bring reusable bags and containers for shopping, and prevent food waste by buying local and composting scraps. With the new report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) saying that even if we were to make massive changes, we only have about twelve years to divert away from climate catastrophe, this narrative has only heightened.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Jennifer Motles and her colleagues at Philip Morris International (PMI) are on a crusade to end smoking. They know many of us probably won’t believe them. And they are OK with that; they just want the chance to prove it.
PRESS RELEASE -
Seventh Generation, a leading household and personal care products company and pioneer in the eco-friendly products space, has announced the launch of a new laundry detergent in an effort to modernize the liquid laundry category and drive unnecessary plastic and water waste out of the industry.