The latest products, services, design approaches and business models that are helping organizations of all sizes deliver on their sustainability ambitions and establish a new business as usual
“I think in an organization, when you’re trying to do something different, it’s important to take up that shared risk,” said Alex Thompson, VP of Communications & Public Affairs at REI, during the Thursday morning plenaries at SB'16 San Diego.
In the postcard-perfect town of Göss, a two-hour drive south of Vienna, something very interesting is brewing.
It is an achievement of the sustainability movement that standards for measuring and reducing our societal and planetary footprint have been established and are being tracked. But evolution tells us that more must be done - business must become restorative. Where is the roadmap for that?
The Internet of Things (IoT) is changing the way we connect with each other and the world around us. While creating new opportunities for business engagement and new systems for developing data, complex and challenging questions about privacy and security are deeply intertwined.
Picture a big bowl of sustainable mac and cheese. Cheesy and delicious, made with non-GMO, organic ingredients – 100 percent real cheese and no artificial flavors, synthetic colors or preservatives - this is a satisfying dinner you can feel good about eating. Hopefully you’re thinking of Annie’s iconic orange box. For more than 25 years, Annie’s Homegrown has married business and social responsibility to produce high-quality products that consumers love.
Cross-Posted from Consumer Behavior Change. The purpose of business is changing. While historically, business students have been taught that the purpose of business solely is to increase investors’ profits — known as the Friedman Doctrine — the most successful brands are searching for a deeper meaning. Defining and activating purpose in business was the key theme of Tuesday evening’s plenaries at Sustainable Brands 2016. While Millennials often receive credit for compelling companies to embrace higher ideals, this actually is something all generations of demanded, said Shannon Schuyler, Chief Purpose Officer at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). However, because Millennials are such a large demographic and constantly communicate via technology, their voices are being heard.
The San Diego breeze rustles the palm fronds above the Mission Bay Patio - it's nice to be in an outdoor presentation space enjoying the Southern California climate. The topic for the afternoon is innovation, and the panel brings a good range of perspective. Carrie Majeske kicks things off by detailing some of Ford's initiatives under the tagline, "Driving change for a better world."
Technology is exponentially accelerating, creating a future that is difficult to imagine and one that impacts communities on a systems level. It is Robert Suarez’s job to think way, way outside of the box and design for that exponential future. Whether helping to put a 3D printer and recycler in space or creating a virtual holographic room with Lowe’s, Suarez dreams big and designs for exponential impact. As the Managing Director of Innovation and Design for Singularity University, he tackles large social and environmental issues.
What do Organic Valley, Target, REI and Toyota have in common? They are what Freya WIlliams describes as “Green Giants,” companies that have turned sustainability into billion-dollar businesses, and they are not alone.
The Spring 2016 proxy votes supporting the 2°C stress test resolutions at last week’s Annual General Meetings of ExxonMobil (38.2%) and Chevron (41%) give cause for both celebration - and concern. These votes suggest that key asset managers are recognizing (and others seem to be willfully ignoring) climate risk inherent in the business-as-usual practices of the largest U.S. oil and gas corporations and their downstream value chains.
KoAnn Vikoren Skrzyniarz, founder and CEO of Sustainable Life Media and Sustainable Brands, kicked off the 10th annual Sustainable Brands conference Monday evening by going back to when she first asked the question, “Why Sustainable Brands?”
The room was buzzing during design strategist Jeremy Faludi’s Monday afternoon workshop, Whole Systems Mapping: Driving Innovation and Sustainability Through Prioritized Ideation and Value Chain Maps. Despite a sunny waterfront view, participants were engrossed in the activities in front of them as the interactive session guided them through various brainstorming and design processes.
Nestlé in the United States (which includes Nestle USA’s people food divisions, as well as Nestle’s other Stateside operations, including Nespresso, Purina and Nestlé Professional) today releases its 2015 Creating Shared Value Report, highlighting its achievements for the year in nutrition, health and wellness; environmental sustainability; water management; rural development and responsible sourcing; and social impact, as well as new objectives and commitments for the U.S. market.
Back to the Roots, an Oakland, California startup pioneering how families reconnect with food, announced today that it has expanded its January crowdfunding campaign on CircleUp into a $10M Series A. The new investment was led by Acre Venture Partners, Campbell Soup’s venture capital fund for food startups, and also includes funding from S2G Ventures and Red Sea Ventures.
Two years ago a story was penned here on Sustainable Brands about a partnership between my company, PrintEco - a small startup with an app to enable more efficient printing - and Domtar, one of the largest paper & pulp manufacturers in North America. It was certainly a unique combination: a paper company promoting a paper-saving software.
As Sustainable Brands marks its 10th anniversary, many of us find ourselves in a reflective mood. We can recall the decade’s pivotal milestones like they were yesterday as we also consider the challenges that lie ahead. Despite the countless amazing achievements and major advances in embracing sustainable practices among corporations, what strikes me is the continued widespread lack of visibility and business integration that exists between governing boards, shareholders, and their supply chains. They still seem to exist in different universes – which can’t be good for our economy and even worse, I imagine, for our climate.
Cross-Posted from Materials & Packaging. From investors to growers, producers, blenders and consumers, the below50 initiative, launched today, expects to attract every industry sector involved in the pipeline of sustainable fuels. Any company who produces, uses and/or invests in fuels that are at least 50 percent less carbon intensive than conventional fossil fuels can join below50.
Schneider Electric, global specialist in energy management and automation, today announced it’s working with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA — aka “the T”) to cut utility bills and carbon emissions tied to public transportation in the greater Boston area. Together, the organizations will develop a comprehensive energy management plan and implement technology to help the MBTA reach its goal of reducing energy costs 12 percent next year.
In today's startup world, high burn rates and the need to raise multiple rounds of funding have become the norm. It's believed that this is the only path to "scalability" — a word that has lost its meaning through a decade of abuse. Before a company, particularly a social enterprise, can become scalable it must have a sustainable foundation that solves a significant problem at a micro level. DivvyUp is a sock company that began out of Florida State University’s entrepreneurship program and is a great example of how to build a viable base to mitigate the risks that comes with growing into a national brand.
Mention the term “corporate social responsibility” and you might hear something like: “It’s dead.” “CSR has stalled.” “CSR has not fulfilled its potential. It has failed us.” Why? Because even at its best, CSR is only a partial solution with incremental changes that are not putting society and business on a strong footing to enable nine billion people to live well on the planet by 2050. Despite the efforts of the past two decades, CSR is still marginal to corporate strategy — siloed and largely irrelevant to a company and its workforce.