SB Brand-Led Culture Change 2024 - Full Program Announced!

Product, Service & Design Innovation

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.

Advertisement
The Journey to Creating a Scalable Social Enterprise

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.

The Virtuous Circle Business Model: Social Purpose at the Core of Business Success

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.

Smarter Soap, Soccer Balls, Seats and Supply Chains: The 2016 SBIO Semi-Finalists, Part 2

Sustainable Brands ’16 San Diego is coming up June 6-9, and part of the fun includes this year’s competition for game-changing, purpose-driven startups — the SB Innovation Open, hosted by Target. In part two of our two-part introduction to our inspiring semi-finalists (meet the rest in part one), we meet a soccer ball manufacturer fighting poverty; a truly natural, earth-friendly soap; a clean way to extract copper, and more.

The Body Shop to Regenerate Over 18K Acres of Forest, Help Monkeys Find Love

Deforested and degraded lands inhibit the ability of endangered plants and animals to grow and thrive again. Restored wildlife corridors such as “bio-bridges” within damaged landscapes can help re-establish plant populations and reconnect endangered animal populations to boost breeding.

Revolutionizing Food, Beer and … Tampons! The 2016 SBIO Semi-Finalists, Part 1

Our 2016 SB Innovation Open, hosted by Target is approaching fast, and our latest crop of disruptive, purpose-driven startups are among our most exciting yet. From edible beer to sustainable farming solutions, here’s a closer look at who will be joining us in San Diego in just two short weeks.

Advertisement
Janine Benyus: What Businesses Can Learn from the 'Optimization Engine of Evolution'

Cross-Posted from Organizational Change. In 1997, biologist Janine Benyus popularized the term “biomimicry,” with her groundbreaking book of the same name, and spearheaded the growth of the discipline dedicated to applying Nature’s designs and processes to create a healthier, more sustainable world. I recently spoke with Janine about some of her favorite biomimetic innovations, about asking more from our design interventions, and some of the yet untapped areas in which Nature’s genius could help solve our most intractable problems.

Forget Incremental Improvements: 40 Companies, Cities Working to Activate New Plastics Economy

The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative kicks off today with an inaugural workshop that brings together more than 40 leading companies including Amcor, Coca-Cola, The Dow Chemical Company, DuPont, Indorama Ventures, Marks & Spencer, MARS, Natureworks, Novamont, Sealed Air, SUEZ, Unilever

Savor a Taste of Sustainability Every Morning

How can you taste sustainability? How can sustainability bring more quality to a cup of coffee? The answer is found in one word: ALIGNMENT. When a farmer remains partner with his coffee, his interest in a thriving coffee business aligns with the interest of the consumer to have a high-quality cup of coffee with a positive impact on the world.

COMMON Partners to Accelerate Social Purpose Businesses, Lead ‘Paradigm Shift’

A new strategic partnership aims to bolster social purpose startups and launch more products that are better for the planet.

Durable Duds: The Disruptive Startups Looking to Wear Out Fast Fashion

As leading fashion brands continue their creative battles against textile waste — check out recent innovations by Levi Strauss, H&M and adidas — a new breed of circular clothing disruptor is starting to emerge. These purposeful startups are looking to stop fast fashion in its tracks by building longevity and emotional durability into their apparel.

Advertisement
Sustainable Water Management and Facilitating Global Access to Clean Water: Addressing SDG 6

Although roughly 70 percent of our planet is covered with water, drinkable water is increasingly becoming a scarce resource. The United Nations has defined access to clean water as one of 17 Sustainable Development Goals; BASF supports the SDGs and is committed to a responsible use of water along the entire value chain.

Starbucks Issues First-Ever U.S. Corporate Sustainability Bond, Aimed at Driving Social Impacts in Supply Chain

Starbucks Corporation announced on Monday that it completed the underwriting of an initial public offering of senior notes, including its first-ever U.S. Corporate Sustainability Bond.

If a Social Impact Innovation Is Created and Not Distributed, Can It Have Any Effect? Check Out the D-Prize

Recently, we added a competition called the D-Prize to our Idea Accelerator. This prize, whose tagline is “Distribution equals development,” is a terrific idea that is so needed in our world today. Why? There is no shortage of excellent, incentivizing prizes in the world — competitions that inspire innovation and ingenuity to make the world a better place. The XPrize is a pioneer in the social innovation competition arena, describing itself as a “catalyst for the benefit of humanity.”

Ford Turning Captured CO2 Into Car Parts, Expanding Healthcare Outreach in Africa

Ford Motor Company claims to be the first automaker to formulate and test new foam and plastic components using captured carbon dioxide (CO2) as feedstock. Within five years, the company expects to be using the new biomaterials in its vehicles. Foams formulated with up to 50 percent CO2-based polyols have shown promise in ‘rigorous’ automotive tests, and could be used in seating and under-hood applications. The company claims that the CO2-derived foam will reduce the use of fossil fuels in Ford vehicles – potentially reducing petroleum use by more than 600 million pounds annually. Other plastic materials are currently under development.

Sustainability Delivering Ever Faster Growth for Unilever

Unilever’s Sustainable Living brands continue to show superior performance, as the company reports on the fifth year of progress of the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan. Consumers expect more of brands and businesses now — and they reward those that deliver a wider social benefit in addition to the traditional product performance at an affordable price. In 2015, Sustainable Living brands — which have integrated sustainability into both their purpose and products:

Advertisement
#BusinessCase: Circular Economy Helping Nike Double Its Business with Half the Impact

On Wednesday, leading apparel and footwear brand Nike released its latest sustainability report and was announced as the newest Global Partner of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Nike has made impressive progress during a period of continued growth, and recognizes that to continue as such, it must innovate on an unprecedented scale. The company has set “a vision for a low-carbon, closed-loop future as part of the company’s growth strategy.”

Bolt Threads Raises $50M Series C, Partners with Patagonia to Pioneer Sustainable Textiles

You’ve probably heard plenty of startups claim they can “revolutionize” their industry, but in the case of Bolt Threads, they may actually be right. The California-based biotechnology startup is already manufacturing its Engineered Silk™ protein at scale and made two big announcements this week at TechCrunch Disrupt NY: the conclusion of a $50 million Series C financing round, and a new partnership with apparel brand Patagonia.

UPS Foundation, Zipline, Gavi Partner to Drone-Drop Medical Supplies in Rwanda

The UPS Foundation has partnered with drone manufacturer Zipline and leading vaccine alliance Gavi., to deliver blood, medicines, and vaccines to clinics across Rwanda via a fleet of Zipline drones. Drones can provide a faster, more reliable method of medicine delivery in areas where roads are often impassable, or where products cannot be kept for long without spoiling. The venture is planned as a one-year initiative, with hopes to expand in the future.

F&A Next Showcasing Innovations That Will Shape the Future of Food & Agriculture

Robots farmers; intelligent crop monitoring; vertical city farms; algae- or lupine-based ingredients; and sustainable methods for growing, nutrient extraction and waste valorization – if the latest crop of F&A Next finalists is any indication, all of these could be revolutionary new components of our food and agriculture systems in the near future.

Zero Waste Europe Needs Your Help to Redesign Wasteful Products

Brussels-based association Zero Waste Europe is developing a project to empower community groups across Europe to challenge wasteful products and facilitate stakeholder collaboration on their redesign. ‘The People’s Design Lab’ is expected to launch in June, but with only one week left in its campaign, Zero Waste Europe has raised just over €4,500 of its €8,000 goal.

Advertisement