The work of organizations joining forces in win-win, pre-competitive ways to bring about massive, impactful shifts away from business as usual
Sanitation is one of the most pressing social and public health challenges today. 1 in 3 people worldwide do not have access to a safe toilet — and 892 million people have no choice but to defecate in the open. Every two minutes, a child dies from a preventable diarrhea-related disease — approximately 288,000 children each year. The issue also contributes to the number of girls who drop out of school, since they are especially affected by a lack of hygiene and sanitation during their period.
I recently spent time in Copenhagen for the Fashion Summit. There were a lot of statistics thrown around but there is one that I can’t get out of my head. 50 million tons of clothes are produced every year and 87 percent of them will end up incinerated or in a landfill. And our industry is expected to double. That math is 87 million tons per year burned or tossed!
States, regions, cities and international business are uniting to use their purchasing and policy influence to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) around the world through a new Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Challenge, launched today.
Fashion for Good and PVH Corp., one of the largest apparel companies in the world that owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, today announced their partnership to accelerate the transition towards a good fashion industry.
This week, National Pollinator Week, marks an important time to not only celebrate the role honey bees play in the sustainability of our food system, but also to spur action that can support the health of these pollinators. While everyone can play a part in maintaining bee health, collective action is the key to safeguarding the 35 percent of the world’s crops that rely on pollinators to some degree.
How much forest land — and what quality — is needed to ensure forests can continue to provide people, plants and animals worldwide with clean air and water, food and the goods and services they need to thrive?
At the 2018 Global Forum on Responsible Business and Recruitment this week, the Consumer Goods Forum (CGF) called on businesses around the world to play their part in the fight to end all forms of forced labor. The event, co-hosted by the CGF and Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB), brought together key stakeholders to discuss how best to galvanize efforts and drive real progress on the issue.
For more information or to engage in the collaboratory, contact Sustainable Brands. Sustainability can often feel like a selling point that we push onto consumers; only a small portion of brands are truly sought out for their sustainability attributes alone. Creating lust, craving or desire for sustainability requires a deep understanding of the core human emotions that drive action, and a knowledge of how to reliably elicit these emotions in a market setting.
Yesterday at SB'18 Vancouver, Kevin Hagen — VP of Environment, Social and Governance Strategy at Iron Mountain — and Dimitar Vlahov, Director of Content Development at Sustainable Brands (SB), offered a sneak peek at the SB Brand Transformation Roadmap (SM). Built for an executive audience, the first-of-its-kind Roadmap is a framework any organization can use as a compass towards setting goals and measuring progress towards becoming a truly "sustainable brand."
In early May, we announced an expansion of the Lyft Relief Rides Program to do more than respond to natural disasters and other crises. With individuals across our service area in need every day, we saw an opportunity to have a greater impact and advance our mission of improving people’s lives with the world’s best transportation.
Over 60 organizations including businesses such as Nestlé, Coca-Cola and M&S have signed a Catchment Management Declaration agreeing to step up action to address the increasing pressures to UK water through improved catchment management.
PepsiCo North America Nutrition (NAN) and food and beverage incubator The Hatchery Chicago have announced a partnership aimed at helping food industry entrepreneurs grow and scale their businesses.
Farmers are faced with constant pricing pressures, water limitations and labor shortages, leading many to seek solutions to help them be more innovative and efficient in growing their crops. Technology and food companies alike are turning to the Internet of Things (IoT) to help.
Collaborative efforts are advancing sustainability in the beauty industry. FIrst, supported by contributions from major brands and retailers, Forum for the Future and The Sustainability Consortium (TSC) have produced a draft assessment tool for evaluating the sustainability of beauty and personal care products, with the goal of simplifying and aligning the wide array of product assessment criteria in use today.
“Coming together is a beginning, staying together is progress, and working together is success.” ~ Henry Ford Environmental and social issues are increasingly affecting the viability of business — and the communities and environments in which they operate. A proven way to address these issues is through partnerships in which businesses and non-profits collaborate for mutual benefit and create solutions to societal challenges. Faced with these sizable issues, it can be hard to know where to start — and to determine where the greatest value lies. Taking a page from lean innovation, start with a pilot project, to test and scale what works.
Starbucks Corporation and Nestlé S.A. announced on Sunday that they will form a global coffee alliance to accelerate and grow the global reach of Starbucks brands in Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) and Foodservice. With a shared commitment to ethical and sustainable sourcing of coffee, the two companies aim to transform, expand and elevate both the at-home and away-from-home coffee and related categories around the world.
Companies looking to advance the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and support startups get their solutions to market by using a new digital match-making platform, fetch. The Dutch-based enterprise helps bring together potential collaborators by showcasing market-ready innovations and allowing companies to search by SDG or industry category to find the ones that align with their corporate sustainability goals.
Indoor gardening kits will likely begin sprouting up at your local Whole Foods Market, thanks to a new partnership with Oakland, CA-based Back to the Roots. What started in 2009 as a dorm room experiment has grown into a mission-driven company with a rapidly growing presence, on a mission to “undo food” by helping people grow food at home and learn about where their food comes from.
Plastic bottles will find new life in textiles and nitrile gloves are being recycled into new consumer goods through corporate partnerships.
One of the greatest aspects of the corporate sustainability movement has to be the paradigm shift that has encouraged companies to collaborate to solve common issues – joining forces across industries and sectors, and even with direct competitors has allowed companies to pool resources and expertise to tackle everything from sourcing, labor, materials, communications, conservation issues and more in holistic and more effective ways. We spoke with Chief Sustainability Officer Monique Oxender to learn more about how strategic partnerships are helping propel Keurig’s sustainability agenda forward.