Walking the Talk
These companies have moved beyond pledges and are making good on their commitments to pursuing a purpose beyond profit.
Trending: New Apparel Industry Commitments Push New Textiles Economy Forward
Fashion and textile industry heavy-hitters are heeding the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s recent call for a New Textiles Economy with the rollout of new agreements and action plans that consider the full life cycle of garments.
MLK’s Triple Bottom Line: The Length, Breadth and Height of a Complete Life and Business
Sixty-four years ago, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his first sermon at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. We named our son Dexter with this in mind.
Newsweek Names L’Oréal, Unilever, CVS 2017's Top Corporate Sustainability Performers
Newsweek has released the results of its 2017 Global 500 Green Rankings, an annual assessment of the sustainability performance of the largest publicly-traded companies in the US and the world by revenue. This year, beauty giant L’Oréal came out on top, ranking as the top-performing global company and best performing personal products company.
PyeongChang 2018 Olympics Committee Launches Sustainability Report, Carbon Credit Campaign
With only a few short weeks left to go before the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, the PyeongChang Organizing Committee has unveiled details of the measures being taken to ensure the sustainability of this year’s event.
US Corporate Voices Critical to Saving the Clean Power Plan
Despite the withdrawal of the US government from the Paris Agreement, many US businesses remain unwavering in their commitment to act on climate change. 2017 was a solid year for corporate climate leadership: 1,700 businesses signed the We Are Still In declaration and nearly half of Fortune 500 companies now have climate and clean energy goals.
Finding Local Solutions to Local Challenges: Contributing to Communities the Otsuka Group Way
Pinpoint specific local issues. Promote sustainable local development. Pave the way for caring and productive corporate growth. That’s how Japan’s Otsuka group of companies seeks to shape its role as an essential company for society.
2 Ways to Tie Your Sustainability Path to a Broader Movement
Sustainability matters, but why does it matter to your business? The vinyl industry began our sustainability journey with the recognition that meeting the needs of a fast-growing population will demand much more of the earth’s natural resources, and we wanted to be prepared to address this challenge. As a result, doing more with less is essential to the way we manufacture and market our products.
Tech Giants Dominate 2017 JUST 100 List of Top Corporate Citizens
JUST Capital, a nonprofit research organization, and Forbes have released the 2017 edition of the JUST 100 List, which ranks publicly traded companies in the US on their performance to act on the priorities of the public.
Patagonia Blacks Out Homepage, Calls on Consumers to Protect Public Lands
Outdoor retailer Patagonia is no stranger to throwing its weight behind worthy causes, particularly those aligned with its mission to “use business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis.” In the past, this has included shuttering its doors on Election Day to highlight pressing environmental issues, donating 100 percent of its Black Friday sales to environmental organizations, calling for a boycott of the Outdoor Retailer
Third Year of REI's #OptOutside Movement Gives the Power to the People
With the launch of its #OptOutside campaign in 2015, REI set a new precedent in retail, shuttering its stores on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, giving its employees a paid day off and – on a day that has come to represent consumerism at its most extreme – encouraging staff and consumers alike to forgo the shopping frenzy in favor of the great outdoors. The move epitomized the company’s ethos and kickstarted a movement to drive positive behavior change and impacts.
UPS Ramps Up Use of Renewable Natural Gas to Deliver on 2025 Sustainability Goals
UPS is ramping up its use of renewable natural gas (RNG), signing a new agreement with Big Ox Energy, a subsidiary of Environmental Energy Capital (LLC), to purchase 10 million gallon equivalents of RNG per year until 2024 — the largest investment in RNG to date for the company. Compared to convention diesel, RNG yields up to a 90 percent reduction in lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions.
'Mizu to Ikiru': Suntory’s Commitment to Society
This post has been translated from Japanese — read the original interview here.
Microsoft Commits to Cutting Operational Carbon Emissions by 75% by 2030
Taking the next step in its carbon neutral journey, Microsoft has pledged to reduce its operational carbon emissions by 75 percent by 2030 against a 2013 baseline. In a blog a post written by Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer, Brad Smith, the move will translate to savings of 10 million metric tons of carbon over the next decade. The commitment puts Microsoft on a path to meet the below 2 degrees Celsius goal set in the Paris Agreement.
Report Reveals Tech Industry Giants Failing to Keep Child Labor Out of Cobalt Supply Chains
Cobalt is back in the news, as a new report from Amnesty International reveals that tech industry giants such as Microsoft, Lenovo, Renault and Vodafone aren’t doing enough to keep child labor out of cobalt battery supply chains in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and China.
P&G: Aiming for the ‘Sweet Spot’ Between Sustainability and Strategy
News Deeply, in partnership with Sustainable Brands, has produced a series of profiles looking at how brands are tackling some of the world’s biggest challenges. The goal is to examine trends and gather insights from a new wave of corporate citizenship — in an era when the private sector is increasingly expected to play a positive role in improving our lives and societies. This is the 14th article in the series.
SB'17 Copenhagen, Day 3: Moving Forward on an Even More Positive Note
From empowerment, optimism and sustainability in space to a whole strategy designed to ‘Make It Better,’ SB’17 Copenhagen rounded out with a host of speakers espousing positivity as a key component of the change that purpose-driven brands are aiming to create in the world. Compensating for your environmental impact has never been easier by Marius Cortsen
Practicing Purpose: How to Turn Social Purpose Into Growth
Launched during SB’17 Detroit, the Practice of Purpose Project seeks to drive the widespread adoption of social purpose by identifying the differences between traditional marketing and marketing based on purpose-drive brand strategies.
SB'17 Copenhagen, Day 1: Redefining the Good Life Through Brands, B Corps, Burgers and … Poetry?
As we continue to explore our global theme of "Redefining the Good Life," we kicked off our second annual Copenhagen conference with fresh perspectives from a host of Scandinavian and European innovators leading the charge — and the change — in this part of the world. Max Burger: Redefining the Cheese Burger by Melanie Vella
Unilever, L’Oréal Raise the Bar on Corporate Climate Action, Topping CDP's A-List
Global environmental disclosure platform CDP has released the results of its annual tracker of how the largest, most environmentally impactful companies are responding to climate change.
3 Key Takeaways from Engaging an Industry in Sustainability
The vinyl industry recently marked its first “sustainability community anniversary” — that moment where industry leaders came together to pledge to embark on our sustainability journey. In the year since, we’ve adopted common sustainability positioning focused on doing more with less, agreed on a purpose-driven continuous improvement path forward, formed the Vinyl Business and Sustainability Council (VBSC), and initiated an industry-wide materiality assessment. There’s still much work to do.