ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
In 2015, Target wrapped up its five-year goals and built the foundation for the future of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practice, which is to make wellness a way of life; pursue sustainability for products and business operations; champion a more inclusive society; and invest and engage in their communities. Summarizing their progress and capturing important projects and milestones, Target’s 2015 Corporate Social Responsibility Report was released this week.
PRESS RELEASE -
Toyota believes hydrogen-fuelled vehicles are more viable than electric ones — and it has brought three of its Mirai models to Australia to prove it.
The Mirai is already on sale in Europe, Japan and California and uses an on-board fuel cell to convert hydrogen into electricity. The small demonstration fleet will be accompanied by a portable refuelling station, which will allow the company to tour the vehicle around the country for maximum exposure.
When the Mirai’s hydrogen supply is running low, it can be fully refuelled in a matter of minutes — a stark contrast to the longer charging times of most electric vehicles. The Mirai can also travel roughly 500km before needing a refill.
PRESS RELEASE -
It's widely recognized that the healthcare sector has a large and costly environmental footprint. Hospitals in particular account for some of the most energy-intensive facilities, yet many traditionally have been slow to embrace resource efficiency. A study by the University of Chicago found that the industry stands to save up to $15 billion over 10 years by adopting more sustainable practices - it's an opportunity that hasn't gone unnoticed by Johnson & Johnson (J&J), the world's sixth-largest consumer health company.
PRESS RELEASE -
Mattel recently became a California water agency’s newest recycled water customer, which will save about 2 million gallons of drinking water per year in the drought-stricken state. The global toy maker, whose brands include Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels, among others, said that using recycled water for irrigation at its El Segundo corporate campus will also save money.
“It does cost less for Mattel to purchase recycled water rather than potable water for irrigation,” said Sarah Levine, Mattel global sustainability manager. “The city of El Segundo and [water district] West Basin both sell recycled water for reduced rates.”
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Is your business embracing the disruptive forces of a low-carbon world as Ford and Ben & Jerry’s are? Over the next 10 years, climate change will drive industrial disruption at rates that previously seemed unimaginable. In response, policy makers must come to terms with the need to keep the mean global temperature rise to 1.5°C.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Mars, Incorporated’s latest Principles in Action report captures the company’s performance on its targets for 2015, 2020, and those which are ongoing. Guided by its Five Principles of Quality, Responsibility, Efficiency, Mutuality and Freedom, the company has met and continues to pursue a wide range of sustainability, health and wellbeing, food safety, responsible marketing and workplace engagement objectives.
PRESS RELEASE -
BASF is expanding its range of high performance foam products with the innovative, certified compostable particle foam ecovio® EA. The product is predominantly biobased and, like all of the grades under the ecovio® brand, it supports the biological cycle through its certified compostability. The excellent properties of the patented particle foam make it particularly suitable for transport packaging for high-value or delicate goods where a high level of impact resistance and robustness is vital. The product properties are similar to those of EPS and boast outstanding energy absorption and very good resilience even when subjected to multiple impact loads.
CLEANTECH -
Sometimes innovation comes from unexpected places — a father-son duo in Chino Hills, California has transformed a family furniture business into Sunflare, a solar energy company that produced solar “wallpaper,” among other high-efficiency PV products.
For more than a decade, Len Gao and his son, Philip Gao, used the furniture business to finance their research on flexible solar panels. After much trial and error, they developed solar panels that are so lightweight and flexible they can be installed on nearly any building surface with little more than double stick tape.
WASTE NOT -
Increasing prevention of food waste could save grocery retailers and food manufacturers in the United Kingdom £300 million a year, according to a recent analysis by the waste reduction experts at WRAP, but the task is easier said than done.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) claims it has created the plastics recycling industry’s most comprehensive plastic packaging design resource. The latest iteration of its APR Design® Guide for Plastics Recyclability outlines detailed steps for packaging and design engineers to consider the implications of new products or containers in the recycling process. The organization suggests that the new and improved guidelines are more user friendly, align with APR test protocols, and provide a variety of additional resources.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Earlier this year, Chef-turned-waste-activist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall drew attention to the huge problem of coffee cup waste. He claimed that in the U.K., less than 6 million takeaway hot beverage cups are recycled each year, while 7 million are thrown out each day, and specifically called on Starbucks and Costa to be more transparent about their cups.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Consumers’ perspectives on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives have received more research attention than the perspectives of manufacturers and retailers, and yet shopper expectations may be a rather minor driver of such initiatives. According to a new study from communications firm Ketchum in partnership with Carol Cone On Purpose (CCOP) consumer demand is actually the sixth- or seventh-ranked driver out of eight main reasons manufacturers and retailers engage in CSR initiatives, respectively.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Today, more than 25 businesses and organizations announce the launch of the Minnesota Sustainable Growth Coalition, a business-led public-private partnership harnessing their collective expertise to advance the next frontier of corporate sustainability – the circular economy.
COLLABORATION -
This dynamic Tuesday afternoon panel dissected Global Supply Chains, taking forward by The Sustainability Consortium's (TSC) newly released impact report, Greening Global Supply Chains: From Blind Spots To Hot Spots To Action. Robin Raj, founder and Executive Creative Director of Citizen Group, moderated the panel and framed the session with the question: "Why does greening global supply chains represent one of the most potent models for change for sustainability?”
PRESS RELEASE -
Duck, Duck, GOOSE!
Toyota Tagged to Receive Keystone Leadership in Environment Award
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
The room was buzzing during design strategist Jeremy Faludi’s Monday afternoon workshop, Whole Systems Mapping: Driving Innovation and Sustainability Through Prioritized Ideation and Value Chain Maps. Despite a sunny waterfront view, participants were engrossed in the activities in front of them as the interactive session guided them through various brainstorming and design processes.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Two years ago a story was penned here on Sustainable Brands about a partnership between my company, PrintEco - a small startup with an app to enable more efficient printing - and Domtar, one of the largest paper & pulp manufacturers in North America. It was certainly a unique combination: a paper company promoting a paper-saving software.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Zappos is challenging consumers to “literally think outside the box.” For its new #ImNotABox campaign, the online retailer will be shipping a number of shoes in a limited-edition boxes that encourage recipients to reuse them in new, inventive ways. The company designed the boxes to feature a number of creative uses for their cardboard, including a smartphone holder, a children’s shoe sizer, a small geometric planter or storage bin, and a three-dimensional llama.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Sustainable Brands ’16 San Diego is coming up June 6-9, and part of the fun includes this year’s competition for game-changing, purpose-driven startups — the SB Innovation Open, hosted by Target. In part two of our two-part introduction to our inspiring semi-finalists (meet the rest in part one), we meet a soccer ball manufacturer fighting poverty; a truly natural, earth-friendly soap; a clean way to extract copper, and more.