NEW METRICS -
During my past five years at PRé, I’ve observed how companies approach different issues. I’m very interested in social impact assessment, and I experienced that companies have wildly different approaches for assessing the social impacts of their products and services, and for managing product social sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
With the rise of brands such as Warby Parker, Soapbox Soaps, Plum Organics and Bombas Socks, the one-for-one giving model has become a popular way for companies to easily tie social impact to consumer product purchases and show just how easy it can be to support a worthy cause.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Your company is doing all the right things: You’re making a product with sustainable attributes, your manufacturing process is diverting waste from landfill, and your products contain recycled content. But are these efforts translating into higher brand value at the shelf? If you’re not communicating your sustainability efforts in the right way, you might be missing the boat. Here are three key reasons you can’t afford to miscommunicate your sustainability initiatives:
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Four years after the launch of its Sustainable Living Plan, Unilever is reporting today that the plan is making an increasingly positive impact on its business in terms of growth, cost efficiency and resilience for the future.
WASTE NOT -
Preserve, producer of sustainable consumer goods with a focus on creating closed loop products using recycled plastic, today announced the launch of Preserve 2 Go — a durable, reusable clamshell container designed for use in food services.Developed to “transform the takeout food experience and to provide an avenue for a more sustainable, eco-friendly system”, Preserve 2 Go could help eliminate the unnecessary waste of millions of disposable to-go containers.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Today, the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and Autodesk announced the winners of the inaugural Cradle to Cradle Product Design Challenge, which asked participants to design products made with materials that can return safely to industry or nature at the end of use, fulfilling a core criterion of “remaking the way we make things.”
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
It is often presumed in the modern world that drawing people out of poverty results in higher carbon emissions and environmental impact; the biggest driver of greenhouse gas emissions has been economic growth. However, Tilonia®, an ethical accessories brand based in Rajasthan, India, has shown that the conventional growth model can be broken.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
It’s tough being one of the largest consumer-facing companies as the troika of transparency, sustainability and ethical behavior increasingly challenges a brand’s reputation and social media assures there is no place to hide.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
As sustainability management becomes ever more closely linked to company resilience and reputation, CSR goals are coming into sharper focus for companies that are truly on the journey. But there are many choices to be made among a broad range of sustainability initiatives that could achieve those goals; just as in the world of product development, where there is an unlimited number of possible new product ideas and features, there will always be too many ideas and not enough resources. So how do you prioritize your company’s sustainability initiatives for maximum value and impact?
PRESS RELEASE -
Company announces commercial availability in North America of evercycle for food containers with 100 percent recycled contentATLANTA, March 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Novelis, the world leader in aluminum rolling and recycling, today announced the first product in a new portfolio of cer
NEW METRICS -
Seventh Generation, the nation's leading brand of non-toxic and renewable bio-based household, baby and personal care solutions, called on Congress last week to strengthen the country's outdated chemical policy.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Selling a product in today’s world is not just about quality and price point anymore. Packaging has become a key factor in the way companies sell products, and specifically, how (if at all) they are making packaging more sustainable. What companies want to know now is if consumers take their carbon footprint into account when buying products and how they respond when companies make an effort to create more sustainable packaging for their products.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Parents have known from time immemorial that fruits and vegetables are good for their children and that everyone should eat more of them. Now, they’re getting more help in their quest than ever before from the federal government, celebrities and Madison Avenue.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Unilever UK and Greenredeem, which rewards people for everyday conscious actions (similar to the UK equivalent of Recyclebank), have announced a partnership aimed at increasing recycling rates and other small, positive actions in our everyday lives to live more sustainably.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Silicon Valley startup OpenLabel has just launched a free iPhone app and website that lets consumers and non-profit partners attach information and product ratings directly onto any barcoded product.After closing half a million dollar seed investment from investors at Google, Amazon, and MicroVentures, OpenLabel released its free mobile app and web platform that helps smart shoppers make healthier, more responsible, and more informed decisions.
NEW METRICS -
Whirlpool has announced that nine of its cooking appliances are among the industry’s first certified under the Association for Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) Sustainability Standard for Cooking Products — the first voluntary sustainability standard for household cooking products, developed by AHAM, UL Environment and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) Group.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Despite being one of the most popular gifts for a loved one on Valentine’s Day, jewelry has been notorious for coming at a social and environmental cost that goes well beyond the price tag. Now Signet, the world’s largest jewelry retailer, is being challenged by social and environmental groups across the world to demand that its major diamond and gold supplier, Rio Tinto, clean up its act this Valentine’s Day.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Last week, Sustainable Brands participated in and helped support an important meeting in Berlin, hosted by BASF, entitled "Steering a Portfolio Toward Sustainability." A gathering of almost 150 chemistry industry stakeholders — including customers and colleagues such as DOW, AkzoNobel, DSM, Eastman Chemical, Solvay and Sabic — participated in the day-and-a-half-long discussion.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Shareholder advocacy group As You Sow and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) have issued a new report examining packaging used by 47 fast food/quick service restaurant (QSR) chains, beverage companies, and consumer good/grocery companies and highlights the leaders and laggards in terms of its recyclability.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Consumer goods giant Unilever today announced it has achieved a key sustainability target of sending zero non-hazardous* waste to landfill from its global factory network. The company says the milestone not only represents a significant step towards its ambition to double its size while reducing its environmental impact, the effort has eliminated more than €200m in costs and created hundreds of jobs – once again proving the business case for sweeping sustainability initiatives.