MARKETING AND COMMS -
Telling the stories of the people and forests behind FSC-certified products deepens consumers’ connections with the brands, and demonstrates the impacts of responsible sourcing. We expect this is just the beginning, due to the clear signals of consumer demand for these stories.
WALKING THE TALK -
SBTi target-setters are ahead of schedule: Since setting targets, these companies have reduced their annual emissions 25% since 2015 — a rate that exceeds the rate needed to limit warming to 1.5°C.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Best known for its fashionable reusable bottles and hydration accessories, S’well recently launched GroundS’well — a sustainability-as-a-service platform that aims to help brands improve consumer habits while decreasing single-use
plastic waste.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The opportunity for impact is especially high for consumer-facing companies, whose supply chain emissions far outweigh their direct emissions from
manufacturing.
WASTE NOT -
When Toronto’s Rogers Centre stadium needed a new roof, the owner turned to Sika Sarnafil — the manufacturer of the original vinyl roof membrane. Choosing a Sarnafil roof provided the additional benefit of the company’s recycling program.
CLEANTECH -
The three founding members of the Farm Powered Strategic Alliance discuss how the pioneering partnership is propelling their individual sustainability strategies.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
2020’s winners cover topics ranging from calculating product carbon footprints, regenerative farming, healthier food and reusable packaging to DEI, supporting businesses during COVID and more.
BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The world’s first carbon-removal collective for the travel industry offers climate-clever travelers and small businesses the ability to contribute directly to carbon removal and storage.
WASTE NOT -
Many plastic-based building materials that could be recycled aren’t, because most companies haven’t yet figured out how. The AZEK Company cracked this code, and diverted nearly 300 million pounds of waste from landfills in 2019.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The intersection of circular practices and supply chain in the built environment
will be a ripe area for innovation as companies look to their real estate portfolios for opportunities to meet their ambitious
sustainability commitments by 2030.
WASTE NOT -
While zero-waste initiatives in the US gained momentum in 2019 and early 2020, myriad complications related to the pandemic brought many to a screeching halt. But as we transition from emergency mode, there have been restarts.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
Here, Shaw’s Kellie Ballew and Eastman’s Ruth Farrell discuss the opportunities created by Eastman’s Naia™ Renew textile, and the need to show the market that sustainability and circularity can be achieved without compromise.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Despite the fact that COVID-19 essentially grounded international travel for the better part of 2020, the tourism industry’s collective decision to address the climate emergency has gained exponential momentum over the last few months.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Amidst the uncertainty of the world during a global pandemic, two key pieces of 2020 research offered hope and optimism about what purpose-driven brands can achieve
in 2021 — buoyed by new attitudes, opinions, and desires from consumers.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
IDH - The Sustainable Trade Initiative and brand partners including Mars, PepsiCo and Unilever have developed the platform to enable a landscape approach to sustainable commodity sourcing.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
As 2020 finally winds down; a number of investor, brand and banking initiatives shows that this year’s many challenges haven’t derailed major global efforts to
achieve, at minimum, a net-zero future.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
With an investment in Kintra Fibers, a material science company that makes 100% bio-based and compostable yarns, PANGAIA aims to raise industry standards for synthetic materials.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Meal kits are synonymous with excessive packaging, but they have a crucial
redeeming feature — they reduce food waste. At Just Salad, that got us thinking:
Could we drastically reduce packaging to make meal kits an unambiguous
environmental win?
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Through its cutting-edge inkjet textile-printing technology, Seiko Epson is
aiming to not only transform the textile industry, but to help solve an array of
social issues caused by analog printing in a range of fields.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
Two forward-thinking brands have deepened their Fairtrade partnerships by making additional financial commitments to cocoa farmers in their supply chains.