PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
Thanks to the ingenuity of private businesses and the leadership of intergovernmental organizations, humanity has made monumental leaps forward since the dawn of the 21st century.I am not talking about the rise of the smartphone. I am talking about the fight for a more prosperous, sustainable and equitable world.Over the past 15 years, the United Nations Millennium Development Goals have brought governments and NGOs together with leaders from the private sector to build the most successful anti-poverty movement in history, ultimately lifting more than a billion people out of extreme poverty.Today, though, there is much more to do.
PRESS RELEASE -
Let’s be honest: Most corporate sustainability reports are not read carefully, if they are read at all. So, why bother? At Domtar, our CEO, John D. Williams, got to the heart of this question in his introduction to our company’s latest report when he wrote: “I hope your reading of this report will be as helpful to your own sustainability interests as preparing it was to ours.”
WASTE NOT -
The water, energy, packaging and waste-reduction initiatives have been tallied up, and PepsiCo, Inc. asserts that its environmental sustainability initiatives have saved the company more than $375 million since its goals were established in 2010. The company proudly announced this week that it also delivered double-digit net revenue and operating profit growth during the same time period, demonstrating a solid business case.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Reputation Institute has released its annual Global CSR RepTrak® 100, which highlights the companies that have the best reputations for corporate social responsibility (CSR) among the general public in 15 countries. Google tops the ranking for the second year in a row, with a significant lead over all other companies in the ranking.
PRESS RELEASE -
Earlier this year, you saw the launch of Sealed Air’s Better Way for Life Plan and 2020 Sustainability Goals. As you would expect, a lot of work was done behind the scenes to set such aggressive commitments. To make sure we weren’t creating a strategy in a vacuum, we collected feedback from suppliers, customers, and non-governmental organizations to gain valuable insights and identify the most material issues to the company and our key stakeholders. The results were Sealed Air’s first materiality assessment and matrix.
We conducted extensive research with both Sealed Air employees and external experts in surveys and interviews. The participation rate and highly engaged feedback from partners reinforced the importance of the work.
PRESS RELEASE -
ATLANTA, September 14, 2015 – The UPS Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS® (NYSE: UPS) is working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Food Programme (WFP) to provide critical relief shipments to thousands of refugees in Greece and along the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border. Air shipments of 163 metric tons of relief supplies, including 86 tons of high-energy biscuits, 30,000 blankets, 25,000 sleeping mats and 1,000 solar lanterns arrived on Sept. 5. The flights were funded by The UPS Foundation as part of its UPS Humanitarian Relief and Resilience program.
LEADERSHIP -
A new publication called Salt, motivated by the hope that businesses will play a key role in shaping a better world, has released its first Top 100 Compassionate Leaders List."We want to shine a spotlight on businesses with a heart; those pioneers who are using their corporate power not only to generate profits, but to create a better world," said Salt publisher Stephen Vasconcellos-Sharpe.
PRESS RELEASE -
In every aspect of business, UPS is Committed to More™; pioneering sustainable solutions for customers, innovating to deliver packages more efficiently, collaborating with others to tackle the world’s toughest issues, and finding more ways to take action and give back. In this video UPS chief sustainability officer, Rhonda Clark, shares UPS’s approach to sustainability, as well as achievements and goals.
Visit ups.com/sustainability and download the new UPS 2014 Corporate Sustainability Report.
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, August 19, 2015 – Sustainable Brands® recently announced the program and speaker line up for New Metrics ’15 scheduled for October 6-8 in Boston, MA. A gathering point for sustainability executives, corporate strategists and financial leaders from across the globe, this annual event focuses on the leading edge of corporate practices and performance indicators that quantify environmental and social impacts and tie them to financial value.
PRESS RELEASE -
The Caesars Entertainment Code of Commitment states that we have a commitment to our communities to help make them more vibrant places to live and work. We encourage all of our employees to volunteer in civic and charitable causes. A Caesars Entertainment HERO Star is a service-driven team member who goes above and beyond in giving back to their community. This quarter we recognized Brenda Heiselt, Mesa Grill Team and Adam Web for their dedication to bringing Caesars’ Code of Commitment to life and awarded them with $500 to donate to a charity of their choice.
Learn more about Caesars' HERO Star program: http://bit.ly/1HC6Nly
MARKETING AND COMMS -
Greenpeace has begun its latest campaign against Shell, with a month of protests over the oil giant’s plans to drill in the Arctic.
PRESS RELEASE -
THE United Parcel Service (UPS) Foundation, the philanthropic arm of UPS, has awarded $35,000 (approximately P1,500,000) to Haribon Foundation, an organization committed to nature conservation with whom The Manila Times has a media partnership.The donation supports Haribon Foundation’s “Rainforest Organizations and Advocates (ROAD) to 2020” project, an environmental conservation movement that aims to restore one million hectares of Philippine rainforests using native tree species by the year 2020. It will also help adopt more than 7,500 seedlings and restore six hectares of forestland.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
TerraCycle has always approached marketing in an unconventional way. We have to, really, considering the success of our business model is dependent on how engaged and motivated our consumers are. In a world with so many conflicts and globally relevant issues, getting people to realize the scope and scale of some of our most serious environmental issues is always an uphill battle.
MARKETING AND COMMS -
"It's all in our Sustainability Report."That's a phrase guaranteed to strike fear in the hearts of even the hardiest sustainability wonks.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Today Dell released an update on its headway in 2014-2015 against its 2020 Legacy of Good Plan, highlighting its first signs of progress in achieving 21 goals in the areas of environment, communities and employees.“Dell has made great progress across its global business ecosystem in its efforts to use the technology we produce for good,” said Trisa Thompson, VP of Corporate Responsibility at Dell. “We’re committed to this ongoing work and share our results to both create and inspire positive change in business practices.”Notable accomplishments in terms of its products and operations include:
PRESS RELEASE -
US 06/19/15Atlanta, GAAwards program honors global companies for leadership through recycling, transportation safety initiativesUPS (NYSE: UPS) has been recognized with a 2015 Eco-Friendly Award from the Alpine Group, LLC, an Idaho-based transportation asset management company.UPS was recognized for collecting and moving more than 4.3 million pounds of recycling in 2014. The Eco-Friendly Awards program evaluation criteria also awarded extra merit for transportation safety awareness and in keeping America’s roads a safer place to travel.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE -
Having already eliminated genetically engineered ingredients and removed carnitas from the menu in some locations rather than serve pork that doesn’t meet its animal-welfare standards, Chipotle Mexican Grill is once again walking its “Food with Integrity” talk — the burrito chain has announced it will expand benefits formerly reserved for salaried workers, including full tuition reimbursements, sick pay and paid vacations, to all employees on July 1, according to
LEADERSHIP -
In an engaging session on Thursday morning, the final day of SB ’15 San Diego, a group of expert panelists discussed the obstacles and opportunities to growing the Certified B corporation movement, and faced some tough questions from the audience on its future.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
On Wednesday at SB ’15 San Diego, BASF and thinkstep announced their collaboration in marketing the Sustainable Solution Steering method developed by BASF for sustainable portfolio management. The two organizations have signed a licensing agreement that extends their existing partnership to support BASF customers and other organizations in assessing and steering their product portfolio in line with sustainability criteria.
PRESS RELEASE -
Let’s face it — if you’re breaking news with a sustainability report, you’re probably doing it wrong.We came to this realization several years ago as we were changing up our reporting structure. We had moving stories, first-hand accounts and brilliant pictures. We also had great data, and loads of information on governance, policies, training and management. Did it really make sense to hold all this material and send it into the world once a year in a fell swoop?Probably not. So we broke our “report” into a real-time blog, and an online reporting resource that we update at least annually (if not more frequently). A year into this change, I’m happy to say it’s going well.