NEW METRICS -
Scotland remains one of the world’s leading nations on circular economy thinking — this year Glasgow will host the Circular Economy Hotspot, an international event and trade mission that will showcase the country’s progressive approach to materials and resource use.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Last week, over 2,000 representatives from our global community of sustainability practitioners, brand strategists, product and service innovators, thought leaders and other change-makers converged at SB’18 Vancouver to share their latest insights on a multitude of themes pertinent to all of those committed to improving business around the world. Here, we dig into brand and organizational efforts to get consumers to deliver their part of the equation, through responsible consumption.
P&G: The road to responsible consumption
By Marissa Rosen
PRESS RELEASE -
Did you know recycling one glass bottle saves enough energy to power a computer for 30 minutes? And recycling 16 aluminum cans saves the energy equivalent of one gallon of gasoline. A series of small actions like these can turn into great things when they are brought together. And that’s what The Recycling Partnership is all about. The Recycling Partnership is a rapidly growing national nonprofit committed to improving curbside residential recycling and boosting recycling education in cities across America — one community at a time, family by family, bin by bin. They’ve already impacted 33 million households in just four years!
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Transparency has become a bit of a buzzword in the fashion industry and judging by the number of times it was mentioned at this year’s Copenhagen Fashion Summit, it is a trend that we are not going to shake anytime soon. Quite the contrary, transparency is reshaping how brands and retailers interact with their suppliers and consumers. But can it really transform the entire fashion industry? C&A Foundation’s Leslie Johnston hosted a panel of experts to find out.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
It’s hard to believe that a fast-food burger chain would actively set a target to reduce red meat consumption by its customers. After all, that generous meat patty smacked in the middle of two fresh buns is the reason why such restaurants exist, right? But Sweden’s beloved Max Burgers is doing just that, and sales across its 120 stores have never been better.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
The Welsh Government and City to Sea, a group campaigning against single-use plastics, are collaborating on the development of campaigns to encourage refills and change residents’ behavior to make tap water their first choice for hydration.
While the campaigns will help people ‘see the value of water,’ the government has also announced an additional £15 million of capital funding to further improve Local Authority recycling collection systems and infrastructure, including for plastics.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Proposing a new idea and convincing others of its validity is no easy task. Even more so when you’re dealing with complex issues such as supply chain transparency, or trying to shift the ‘take, make and waste’ model of the fashion industry to one of circularity.
PRESS RELEASE -
In a world motivated by social cred and “likes,” it comes as no surprise that U.S. consumers on average spend roughly $250 a month on clothes, shoes and accessories. But what you might not expect is that men not only outspend women when it comes to their closet (spending an average of $310.50 per month on their wardrobe, compared to $187.20 for women), they are also 52 percent more likely than women to say they care a lot about eco-conscious fashion. Just in time for Earth Day, outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland shines a spotlight on what consumers value most when it comes to “going green” with their wardrobe.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Water and waste are issues at nearly every step of the textile and apparel lifecycles. Luckily, solutions are being developed across the board.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
The Procter & Gamble Company today announced it has achieved many of its 2020 environmental sustainability goals, has plans in place to meet the rest and has established new, broad-reaching goals for 2030.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
In a first-of-its-kind analysis for the hotel industry, food waste reduction programs were shown to be effective and financially beneficial. The research – which was conducted on behalf of Champions 12.3 – studied the costs and benefits of reducing food waste for 42 hotel sites across 15 countries. Over a three-year period, nearly every site realized a positive return on its investment; on average, hotels saved $7 in operating costs for every $1 they had spent on the programs.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
2018 has already seen a number of environmentally conscious trends — such as a switch to electric vehicles and plant-based diets — make the headlines.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The week surrounding Easter has the highest consumption of chocolate in the year. For environmentalists, it can be a bitter reminder that many of the world’s primary regions for growing cocoa are experiencing dramatic decline in forest cover as land is cleared for agriculture. Cocoa is the top driver of deforestation in Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire; countries that also rank 1st and 3rd for the highest rates of deforestation in all of Africa.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
On foot, by bicycle, through water and combinations of the above, distance races such as marathons and ocean races are a global phenomenon. Running and cycling races have become a big business in recent years, due to the opportunity for sponsorship and the brand affinity that comes with it.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
As a division of the fashion industry, the footwear sector has a hefty environmental footprint. However, a slew of emerging brands are gearing up to change footwear’s future, raising the bar for the rest of the industry by embracing sustainable sourcing, ethical labor practices and transparency.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Despite the rise of recyclable packaging for beauty and personal care products, only half of US consumers responsibly dispose of these products. To boost bathroom recycling, beauty brand Garnier has teamed up with TerraCycle and DoSomething.org to launch the second year of Rinse, Recycle, Repeat, a national recycling campaign and college campus competition that aims to educate young people on how to responsibly recycle their beauty and personal care products.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
New research from B Lab, a network of purpose-driven companies using business as a force for good, has revealed that certified B Corps in the UK are growing 28 times faster than the national economic growth of 0.5 percent.
PRESS RELEASE -
Black History Month serves as a good reminder for us to celebrate achievements in the African-American community, but we should also engage in open conversation on where shortcomings exist and progress remains to be made.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
A first-of-its-kind research project led by Microfinance Opportunities (MFO) in partnership with Fashion Revolution and C&A Foundation gives the most comprehensive picture yet of the living and working conditions faced by female garment workers in Bangladesh, Cambodia and India.