BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Patagonia is back at it — the outdoor gear company has launched a new digital platform connecting customers with local environmental organizations. The aim of the new platform, Patagonia Action Works, is to encourage Patagonia customers to learn more about local environmental issues and get involved with events, petitions, fundraising and volunteering in their area.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch® program, already the global standard for environmentally responsible seafood, has created a new tool that allows businesses to assess the potential risk of forced labor, human trafficking and child labor in fisheries.
PRESS RELEASE -
Nestlé has been recognised for engaging its suppliers to tackle climate, water and forest-related risks in its supply chain.
For the second year in a row, the international not-for-profit CDP has included Nestlé in its supplier engagement leader board. The Global Supply Chain report is being released today.
Nestlé is one of only 58 companies included out of a total of 3,300 assessed, putting it among just 2% awarded a place. Nestlé has committed to showing climate change leadership as part of its goal of enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.
PRESS RELEASE -
Business growth and sustainability go hand in hand at HEINEKEN and our ‘Brewing a Better World’ platform encompasses six business priorities: water stewardship, reducing CO2 emissions, sourcing sustainably, advocating responsible consumption, promoting health and safety, and growing with communities.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Budweiser is launching a new initiative to communicate its commitment to sustainability to consumers and kickstart an industry-wide movement. The AB InBev brand has created a renewable electricity symbol that indicates when its beer is brewed with 100 percent clean energy.
WASTE NOT -
Around 52 million tons of food are wasted each year in the United States despite 1 in 7 US citizens lacking reliable access to sufficient, affordable and nutritious food. While raising consumer awareness is an important food waste reduction strategy, interventions at the corporate level have a crucial role to play in addressing the issue on a large scale.
COLLABORATION -
Sustainability is at risk. And whilst the risks that go beyond climate change may be less well-understood, they are just as pressing.
That was the message at the first meeting of the European Union’s Multi-Stakeholder Platform on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on 10 January in Brussels.
WASTE NOT -
Around 7 million tons of food go to waste each year in the UK, but local startups and organizations are dreaming up new and noteworthy ways to tackle the growing problem.
Action Hunger, a charity committed to alleviating poverty and hardship among the homeless, has created a novel solution for simultaneously providing essential items to those in need and diverting food from landfill: vending machines.
PRESS RELEASE -
Detroit’s urban garden scene continues to grow in impact, bringing neighbors together and supporting the underprivileged with access to healthy produce. General Motors contributed a small part in fueling this movement through the donation of its steel shipping crates repurposed as raised garden beds. Five years later, 2,000 of the automaker’s crates are home to plantings in 33 different gardens.
Instead of recycling the metal crates, GM prefers this direct reuse, saving energy and resources while supporting the community. Below is a look at how each of these gardens have taken their impact to the next level over the years.
CLEANTECH -
Back in 2015, we first learned about + POOL, a wildly ambitious idea by four enterprising New Yorkers to make the City’s notoriously polluted Hudson River swimmable with the help of a floating, water-filtering pool.
WASTE NOT -
Sustainable Surf, a nonprofit focused on protecting ocean health, has teamed up with Swiss designer Yves Béhar and MAFIA Bags, a Bay Area-based brand making bags and backpacks from upcycled sails, to create an urban adventure bag that supports the local community and diverts valuable resources from landfill.
PRESS RELEASE -
Taking place directly after Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday encourages small acts of kindness once the frenzy of post-Thanksgiving shopping sales is over. Since its inaugural year in 2012, Giving Tuesday has brought people together to celebrate and support philanthropy.
Over the past year, HEINEKEN USA has worked with a range of partners to make cities greener, promote better decision-making, and foster more inclusive communities.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
This has been a bad year for natural disasters. In fact, 2017 is tied with 2011 for the most billion-dollar disasters.[1] Without even counting Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria or the California fires, the US has sustained 218-plus weather and climate disasters since 1980, totaling more than $1.2 trillion in recovery costs.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
In an era where brands are becoming increasingly socially conscious to keep up with societal trends, Marc Skid is no exception. The recently launched online underwear retailer is using the finest, sustainably grown materials to provide its customers both a high-quality product and an opportunity to donate to feed, cure and save the world.
NEW METRICS -
While measurement, disclosure and other forms of engagement were the dominant themes yesterday, day two of New Metrics ’17 saw brands, NGOs and solution providers digging deeper to reveal practical applications and concrete findings from where the rubber meets the road in the world of sustainability metrics.
The design and implementation of a Sustainable Product Optimization Tool
By Anna Shugoll
PRESS RELEASE -
The UPS Foundation, which leads the global citizenship programs for UPS (NYSE: UPS), announced it will award more than $2.6 million in grants to nonprofit organizations focused on environmental initiatives that align with UPS’s new sustainability goals to increase its reliance on renewable energy sources and reduce its absolute greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from global ground operations.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
The international Fair-Trade Town movement encourages authorities, corporates, retail outlets and community groups to promote fair trade and spread understanding of fair-trade concepts across its sphere of influence. Over 1,800 towns have been recognized worldwide. Japan may well lag other countries in the movement, but it does have three registered fair-trade cities — Kumamoto, Nagoya and Zushi — and has added its own, sixth requirement to the five core standards for fair-trade town status outlined by Fair Trade Towns International.
MEMBER SPOTLIGHT -
John Viera, Global Director, Sustainability and Vehicle Environmental Matters at Ford Motor Company, recently shared his experience as one of the first sustainability business professionals in the corporate world.
Read on to learn how he applies his engineering background to his sustainability work, his unique “talents” that make him especially equipped to lead a sustainability organization, and why he’s passionate about delivering innovation to communities that need it most.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The Responsible Sourcing Network (RSN), a project of the nonprofit organization As You Sow dedicated to ending human rights abuses associated with raw materials, has released a new report analyzing 206 companies’ due diligence regarding the use of conflict materials in their supply chains. In a year-on-year comparison, almost all participants decreased their scores, despite demonstrating strong initiative to mitigate risks.
WALKING THE TALK -
Big news has been rolling out of the Textile Exchange 2017 Textile Sustainability Conference near Washington, D.C. this week, providing evidence of the major paradigm shift taking place in the apparel and textile industry.