Collaboration
Follow the growing amount of collaborative work — cross-functional, cross-sector, pre-competitive and more — bringing about massive, disruptive, needed shifts to business as usual.
A True Fish Tale: Domtar Makes Paper *and* Raises Fish for Local Rivers
It may seem odd to hear about thousands of brook, brown and rainbow trout living in a paper mill, but it is certainly no fish tale in the traditional sense. Located near Pennsylvania’s Allegheny forest on the headwaters of the scenic Clarion River, Domtar’s Johnsonburg mill boasts a long and rich history of papermaking — and more recently — of raising fish to help support local rivers.
Circular Solutions in Action: Retailers, Recyclers Collaborate to Fight Textile Waste
Textile waste is a 26-billion-pound problem the world is just beginning to recognize. With us consuming more than 80 billion pieces of new clothing each year globally, there’s no question that change is necessary – but what will it take for retailers, clothing manufacturers and consumers to embrace the environmental benefits of reuse?
Clarins Fragrance Group Embarks on 'Responsible Alcohol' Mission
In an unprecedented move, Clarins Fragrance Group is blazing new transparency trails, with brands MUGLER and AZZARO committing to produce perfume alcohol in a way that meets rigorous environmental and social requirements under a groundbreaking “made in France” program. The key aim of the “responsible alcohol” project is to promote biodiversity in agricultural practices. Other benefits of the program include local production, which will create a short circuit between harvest and transformation sites.
Public-Private Partnerships Are the Future for Sustainable Infrastructure
Veolia North America and the Wharton School’s Initiative for Global Environmental Leadership (IGEL) have released a report detailing the demonstrated success and future potential for public-private partnerships (P3s) to provide sustainable solutions for the nation’s infrastructure needs.
Trending: Cross-Industry Collaborations Helping Drive Closed-Loop Manufacturing
While technology itself is essential for driving forward the circular agenda, cross-industry collaboration has a crucial role to play in scaling sustainable solutions to pressing environmental and social problems.
New Apparel Institute Aims to Scale Sustainable Solutions for Fashion Industry Impacts
The launch of a new initiative designed to spur collective action around sustainability in the apparel and footwear industry is providing brands and manufacturers with the knowledge and resources necessary to select, fund and accelerate projects that can improve upon the sector's problematic environmental impacts.
Disruptive Suppliers Giving Big Business Boost Towards Achieving Sustainability Goals
Isle of Wight-based ethical apparel startup Rapanui has come a long way since its conception in 2009, when brothers Rob and Mart Drake-Knight launched with a mere £200. Now, with almost a decade of experience under its belt, Rapanui is helping other UK businesses achieve their sustainability goals.
Danone, Nestlé, Mondelez, PepsiCo, Walgreens Unite to Help Consumers Lead Their Healthiest Lives
The Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) is on a mission to help consumers make healthier choices with the launch of a new pilot campaign in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Unilever Joins Better Than Cash Alliance, Embraces Digital Finance Across Value Chain
In an effort to advance the goals outlined in its Sustainable Living Plan, in which it aims to positively impact the lives of 5.5 million people by 2020, consumer goods giant Unilever has announced a new partnership with the Better Than Cash Alliance.
How the Arbor Day Foundation Brought Brands Together to ‘ReGreen’ Detroit
At this year’s Sustainable Brands conference in May, we did something that we hadn’t done before — it was an ‘aha’ moment. Sustainable Brands and the Arbor Day Foundation — the world’s largest member-based tree-planting organization — partnered to host the first volunteer experience for conference attendees to get their hands dirty. This urban tree planting event, “ReGreening the Good Life,” was a fitting jump-start to the SB ’17 Detroit conference. More than 55 volunteers from the conference helped plant trees in a downtown Detroit park.
Back to the Roots, Fall Out Boy Team Up to Accelerate 'Undo Food' Movement
Since 2009, Oakland, California startup Back to the Roots has been on a mission to "Undo Food" by reconnecting consumers (and kids) with what’s on their plates, and driving the food industry towards greater transparency and integrity.
PepsiCo Reports on First Year of Progress Against Its 'Performance with Purpose' 2025 Goals
Today, PepsiCo reported progress towards its ambitious Performance with Purpose 2025 Agenda sustainability goals, announced last year. The company improved performance against goals in each of the Agenda’s three focus areas – Products, Planet and People – while returning over $7 billion to shareholders.
In Record Time, Visa Rallies NFL Stars, Morgan Freeman for Ad to Support Harvey Victims
Brands are increasingly leveraging their influence for good, using their tremendous reach and means to draw attention to and inspire action to address some of the biggest environmental and social challenges of our time. ‘Goodvertising’ plays an important role in this space — as evidenced by this year’s Cannes Lions — but getting it right doesn’t always come easy. Spotlighting the world’s most burning issues is important, but simply telling stories isn’t enough — businesses need to demonstrate what they’re actually doing to create a better world.
The Burden of Clean Water Worldwide Still Borne by Women
Clean, drinkable water is crucial for human existence, but according to the Women Thrive Alliance, roughly 663 million people worldwide still lack easy access to safe water.
Businesses Band Together to Provide Relief to Communities Hit Hardest by Harvey
Hurricane Harvey, the strongest storm to hit Texas and Louisiana in decades, has left a wake of destruction in its path. More than 30,000 people have been driven into shelters and the storm’s aftermath has left behind some estimated tens of billions of dollars in damage. Though the storm has now been downgraded to tropical storm status, the danger is far from over if forecasts predicting the storm to move towards the Gulf of Mexico, where it will pick up strength before moving back over Texas, prove to be true.
Over 250 CEOs Pledge to Advance Diversity in the Workplace
Only one month after 175 CEOs came together to launch the CEO Action for Diversity & Inclusion™, nearly 100 additional CEOs have taken the pledge, committing themselves — and the organizations they lead — to advance diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Collaboration for Logistics Innovation: An IoT Pallet Designed for a Circular Economy
Pallets, ubiquitous throughout our economy, have been an early example of the potential for a circular product system, with reusable, pooled pallets reducing waste in logistics. For decades, wood has been the dominant pooled pallet material. While a natural, renewable material, wood can break, is porous and can create worker safety issues from handling. With roughly 10 billion pallets in circulation, there remains a significant opportunity for improvements.
How Savers Is Cultivating Community Through Reuse
As we navigate tumultuous times in our country and across the globe, people are looking to businesses to cultivate community, either through their own programs or through partnerships. According to the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, businesses and NGOs are the most trusted organizations by the public, more so than media or the government. People are looking to these organizations to fill a need, solve problems, and redefine the ‘good life’ in their communities.
Trending: JPMorgan, GSK Strike Up New Partnerships to Save Energy, Tackle CO2
When it comes to achieving bold sustainability goals, every action counts — a concept that is catching on fast with industry heavy hitters such as JPMorgan and GSK. The two companies have struck up new partnerships with GE and Schneider Electric, respectively, to tackle emissions and resource inefficiencies that threaten to impede their climate progress.
13 Energy Giants Call on EU to Cap State Subsidies for Major Polluters
A coalition of 13 major energy industry firms, including Siemens, Shell, Statoil, Solar Power Europe and Total have launched a new initiative to limit the amount of state aid subsidies that are sent to highly polluting power plants across the European Union.