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Behavior Change

The latest developments supporting a shift toward sustainable consumption, as well as specific ways brands are encouraging less wasteful behaviors.

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Study: Choice Architecture, Not More Info, Key to Healthier Purchasing Habits

Recent studies suggest consumers are increasingly motivated to buy sustainable products, especially the rising generation of socially motivated millennials — that’s the headline in the sustainable business community. But we also know that it’s difficult to motivate consumers to act upon their best intentions. They may state their preference to buy organic, ethically produced products in the abstract, but their actual choice may be different at the point of purchase.

McDonald's, Wrigley's Among Companies Behind 'Litter Manifesto' Calling for Strategy to Clean Up UK

A coalition of British NGOs and businesses is collaborating on a call for concerted action to curb littering. In a letter to the Guardian, leaders from national companies such as the British Soft Drinks Association and British Plastics Association, as well as global brands McDonald’s and Wrigley’s, are urging the government to develop a comprehensive anti-littering plan.

Global Investors Urging Food, Beverage Companies to Better Manage Water Risks

Amid growing concerns over escalating water scarcity and pollution risks, more than 60 leading North American and European institutional investors, collectively managing $2.6 trillion in assets, sent joint letters to 15 food and beverage companies last week calling for increased water risk management and disclosure practices.

Report: Connection Charges Can Encourage Water Efficiency

Even as many U.S. communities struggle to support growing populations with limited water resources, few are utilizing water connection charges to increase water-savvy residential development projects in their communities, according to a new report by Western Resource Advocates, Ceres and the University of North Carolina's Environmental Finance Center.

Trending: Walmart, Tom's of Maine Face Up to Misleading Label Claims

Today’s instant communication means brands must respond to calls for transparency or risk widespread exposure to reputational damage. Two recent investigations of major brands reveal the power of public calls for accountability in motivating brand behavior changes.

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Greenpeace Continues Month of Shell Protests with 'Titanic'-Themed Performance

Cross-Posted from 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.

Stakeholders Applaud Biggest U.S.' Carbon Emission-Reduction Measure in History

Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final version of its Clean Power Plan, the nation’s first-ever limits on carbon emissions from power plants — the single largest source of U.S. global warming pollution.

Sustainability, Virtuous Cycles and (Gasp!) Brand Self-Actualization

“Intrinsic growth of what is already in the organism, or more accurately of what is the organism itself ... self-actualization is growth-motivated rather than deficiency-motivated.” — Abraham MaslowConsumer expectations of sustainable business practices are higher now than ever before, with as much attention being paid to the way a company behaves as to what products or services it offers. And in our interconnected world, consumers are less tolerant of discrepancies between brand claims and news reports of unsustainable and unethical practices. The question “is this company a good corporate citizen?” is increasingly common in consumer decision-making.

IKEA to Raise UK Employee Pay Above National Living Wage By 2016

IKEA will be the first national retailer in the United Kingdom to pay workers above the government's new National Living Wage, BBC News reports.The Swedish furniture company said it would pay all of its 9,000 UK workers at least £7.85 (US $12.22) per hour hour starting in April 2016. Employees in London will be paid £9.15 ($14.40) an hour, reflecting the higher cost of living. The wage increase will affect around half of the company’s UK employees.

Chipotle Continues Effort to Educate Consumers on What's in Their Food with 'Friend or Faux'

While major restaurant chains including McDonald’s, Subway, Panera and Taco Bell have recently begun to move away from unpronouncable, unfamiliar ingredients such as propionic acid and Yellow No.

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New 'Water Deeply' Platform Will Help Public Understand California Water Crisis

Following ongoing campaigns to urge both businesses and citizens to more effectively conserve water, this week saw the launch of Water Deeply, a comprehensive new media platform created to connect the public with experts to better understand the California drought.

Trending: Major Brands Adopting Bold Anti-Smoking Stances

While a shift in consumer attitudes away from smoking has been mounting for decades, major brands are now stepping up to do their part to extinguish the unhealthy habit.First, CVS Health Corporation resigned from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce last week, after exposing the Chamber’s involvement in lobbying campaigns against anti-smoking laws. CVS says selling cigarettes is antithetical to its strategy to become a healthcare destination.

Whole Foods, Wegmans Top Greenpeace Scorecard for Sustainable Seafood

Greenpeace released the ninth edition of its Carting Away the Oceans (CATO) report today, ranking 25 supermarkets on the sustainability of their seafood procurement. Whole Foods ranked first for the third year in a row, followed by Wegmans, Hy-Vee, and Safeway in the “good” category. In total, 80 percent of evaluated retailers received passing scores overall.Supermarkets were scored across four areas:

General Mills Removing Artificial Flavors, Colors from Cereals by End of 2016

General Mills cereals has committed to removing artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources from the rest of its cereals in response to consumers’ changing preferences. The company says more than 60 percent of its cereals, including Cinnamon Toast Crunch and original Cheerios (which also went non-GMO last year), are already made without artificial flavors and colors from artificial sources, and have been that way for some time.

Trending: Subway, Kroger Face Public Pressure to Ditch Antibiotic-Laden Meat

Growing public health and consumer safety concerns about the overuse of antibiotics in food has sparked a wave of resistance, with both Subway and Kroger facing pressure this week to curb their reliance on antibiotics — which the companies say they use to promote growth and produce their meat efficiently.Opposition to the excessive antibiotics use has arisen from the spread of antibiotic-resistant ‘superbug’ bacteria, which render infections that are normally treatable with antibiotics more severe and even deadly. Food contaminated with antibiotic-resistant bacteria is one way in which ‘superbugs’ can be transmitted from farms to people.

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Top Mexican Companies Will Abstain from Fishing Pacific Bluefin Tuna Until 2020

Member companies of the Pacific Alliance for Sustainable Tuna, representing 93 percent of tuna production in Mexico, have announced they will refrain from fishing Pacific Bluefin tuna until 2020.

FDA Bans Trans Fats: What Does This Mean for Palm Oil Consumption in the US?

This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) moved to ban the use of partially hydrogenated oils, the main dietary source of artificial trans fats, after determining they are not safe to use in food. This move is hardly surprising, given that in November of 2013, the FDA made this preliminary determination. The announcement likely means an increased amount of palm oil, a trans fat-free vegetable oil, in the American diet — and an opportunity for companies to source only palm oil that is deforestation and peat-free.

Trending: Fashion Loved, and Not So Loved, by Forests

Last week, a colorful protest temporarily diverted attention from the red carpet parade at the 2015 Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA) Fashion Awards at New York City’s Lincoln Center.Dressed in sleek formal wear, activists deployed a large banner over the heads of the crowd while others handed out balloons and business cards printed with a parody logo of the demonstration’s target: Ralph Lauren.

Norwegian Government Makes Largest Coal Divestment in History

The Norwegian parliament has unanimously voted for the Norwegian Government Pension Fund (GPFG) to adopt strong divestment criteria for companies involved in coal mining and coal fired utilities, including 49 companies and subsidiaries based in the United States.The GPFG is the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund and the new criteria will most likely force it to divest from 122 companies totaling $8.7 billion, according to calculations made by Urgewald, Greenpeace and Future in Our Hands.The exclusion criteria states that any company deriving more than 30 percent of its activity from coal will be excluded from GPFG’s portfolio, including both coal mining and coal fired utilities.

Indonesian Pulp and Paper Giant APRIL Pledges Zero Deforestation, Greenpeace Applauds

Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd (APRIL), one of the world’s largest producers of pulp and paper, has today announced an end to deforestation as part of a new Sustainable Forest Management Plan.Deforestation for pulp and paper, and palm oil, is a leading cause of greenhouse gas emissions in Indonesia. If properly implemented, APRIL’s pledge will prove to be another major step by business towards protecting Indonesia’s rainforests and peatlands.

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