CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Seventy-five million people work directly in the fashion and textiles industry. Many are subject to exploitation; verbal and physical abuse, unsafe working conditions and poor pay. While some progress has been made since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013, which killed 1,138 people, there is still a lot to be done.
PRESS RELEASE -
It’s spring cleaning time—is your old car seat on the toss list? Maybe your little one’s outgrown it, or perhaps you want an upgrade. Whatever the case, we’ll trade ya! April 17–30, bring your used car seat to Target stores nationwide and trade it in for a coupon for 20% off any car seat in our stores or at Target.com, good through May 31.
What happens to all those car seats we collect? We’re teaming up with our friends at TerraCycle to make sure they get recycled, or upcycled into new products. Through the partnership, we expect to keep more than 700,000 pounds of car seat materials out of landfills.
PRESS RELEASE -
While global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland has an ongoing commitment to protect the outdoors, Earth Day season brings with it a range of initiatives to engage employees in the company’s environmental agenda. This year, beyond hosting Earth Day service events worldwide for employee volunteers, Timberland’s global headquarters in Stratham, New Hampshire will launch its second annual Earth Week, April 17-21. This five day effort encourages employees to reduce their individual and collective environmental footprints.
PRESS RELEASE -
In support of Alcohol Awareness Month, HEINEKEN USA (headquartered in White Plains, NY) announced April 4 various programs and initiatives that promote responsible drinking and moderate alcohol consumption.
Every April since 1987, the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD) has sponsored Alcohol Awareness Month to increase public awareness and understanding, reduce stigma, and encourage local communities to focus on alcoholism and alcohol-related issues.
Heineken® is an industry leader in this space and was the first brand to include responsibility messaging on its packaging. HEINEKEN USA is continuing this commitment with the following initiatives:
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Many businesses measure growth by selling more stuff to more people, and consumer markets are expected to expand in the decades ahead. The world is on pace to exceed 9.5 billion people by 2050, with far fewer living in poverty than today. Thanks to the rapid industrialization of developing countries including China, Brazil and India, 3 billion people are projected to join the global middle class in the next 15 years alone. These demographic shifts represent both a human development victory and an enormous business opportunity for those companies positioning to meet the needs of added consumers.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Last month, Indonesia pledged to cut plastic pollution by an astounding 70 percent by 2025, in response to the UN Environment Programme’s #CleanSeas campaign. This commitment is a huge step forward in reducing the more than 8 million tons of plastic going into our oceans every year.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
The business case for sustainability, particularly the circular economy, is a strong one, and more and more researching is backing it up. A recent report by the Business & Sustainable Development Commission pointed to sustainable business models as the key to unlocking trillions of dollars in economic opportunities, and WRAP revealed that brands across the UK saved over £100 million simply by reducing food waste.
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Moving the needle on consumer behavior remains a monumental task - but a necessary one if we are to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With household consumption accounting for nearly 70 percent of economic activity in the United States, consumers’ choices can make a real difference. At the same time, consumers are faced with so many decisions in their day-to-day lives that “decision fatigue” is commonplace. We cannot expect consumers to weigh the environmental and social implications of each of their actions and purchases.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
IKEA has been quietly piloting various initiatives across its European stores to see how it can build circularity into its service offering for customers. It’s a bold move, given that consumer-facing circular economy business models are still relatively embryonic, particularly in the retail market.
“Over the coming years, we will support customers to care and repair, rent, share, bring back, and resell their IKEA products to prolong product life,” IKEA’s sustainability manager Jonas Engberg told me in a recent interview.
PRESS RELEASE -
A long-time advocate of sustainability, Avery Dennison Label and Packaging Materials is stepping up its efforts to raise the sustainability bar. The company is inspiring converters, brands and thought leaders to work together to increase sustainability awareness, choices and collaboration to solve some of the industry's most difficult problems.
Launching this month is a multifaceted initiative to engage, educate and motivate businesses and people alike, while building its sustainability leadership brand. The initiative embraces:
PRESS RELEASE -
CHICAGO (July 18, 2016) – MillerCoors released its 2016 Sustainability Report, which provides a comprehensive review of the company’s 2015 efforts in the areas of alcohol responsibility, environmental stewardship and community investment. The nation’s second largest brewer continues to help prevent drunk driving and underage consumption, reduce water use and brewery waste, and create equal opportunities for women in beer.
PRESS RELEASE -
Seafood consumers put sustainability before price and brand
New independent research reveals global motivators to seafood purchase
Consumers perceive NGOs and scientific organisations as contributing most to protecting oceans
Independent certification increases consumer trust in brands
Awareness of the blue MSC label is 37% amongst all consumers
MSC-aware consumers say they will pay a premium of up to 11% for MSC labelled seafood
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
One of the biggest trends in business for years has been the paperless office. Many brands have taken the digital or paperless office to extremes; social media platform Buffer, for example, does not have a central office, relying on its employees to produce remotely.
While this model is great for sustainability purposes, it isn’t ideal for larger organizations. However, that doesn’t mean that a brand the size of Amazon isn’t capable of going paperless. The conversion simply has to happen differently.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
This year, Fashion Revolution’s annual campaign has expanded into a week-long series of events featuring hundreds of activities, stunts and social experiments across 84 countries worldwide. Throughout Fashion Revolution Week, April 18th to 24th, consumers will demand transparency and raise awareness of exploitation in the fashion supply chain by posting on social media using the hashtag #WhoMadeMyClothes.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Last month, IKEA’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Steve Howard, raised eyebrows at a panel debate by suggesting that in some parts of the world we have reached the point of ‘peak stuff’, a comment that was interpreted by some as a warning that consumer appetite for home furnishings had reached a crucial turning point.
SUPPLY CHAIN -
The sustainability challenges facing the clothing industry today are immense. In 2013 the Danish fashion institute estimated it to be the second-most damaging industry in the world, with 25 percent of the world’s pesticides used to grow cotton alone, and one-fifth of industrial water pollution stemming from the dyeing and treatment of fabric. The U.S.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
This post is part of a series produced by The Huffington Post, "What's Working: Sustainable Development Goals," in conjunction with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The proposed set of goals will be the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly meeting on Sept. 25-27, 2015 in New York; they cover 17 key areas of development — including poverty, hunger, health, education, and gender equality, among many others.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Fenugreen, 2013’s SB Innovation Open winner and creator of the potentially game-changing food-saving innovation FreshPaper, is one of 10 startup finalists in contention for the most coveted of TV spots: a Super Bowl ad.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
One year after drugstore chain CVS Health stopped selling cigarettes, the company released new data that shows the decision has influenced tobacco sales across many types of retailers and announced a new school-based tobacco-prevention program.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
If you’re concerned about the recent drought but feel lost on how you can lessen your personal water use, a new initiative promises to help. Anheuser Busch’s Shock Top Brewing Co. is partnering with Indiegogo to identify, fund and distribute water-saving innovations that can help California residents reduce their water consumption.