MARKETING AND COMMS - It should come as no surprise that purpose — defined as your company’s aspirational reason for being beyond profit — plays a key role in the direction of your business on multiple levels. Purpose is an overarching “north star” that serves as a guidepost for decision making.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - Environmental and social issues are increasingly being used to shape business practice as companies recognize the link between strong ESG performance and profit. But for those that continue to put up resistance, investors and financial institutions are playing an important role in driving change.
ORGANIZATIONAL CHANGE - A notorious company with a controversial product is attempting to pivot its business model to be more socially responsible — and marketing directly to consumers during this transition.
COLLABORATION - It’s never been more important to bring the poaching and wildlife conservation story to life, while also bringing together local and international stakeholders to build sustainable solutions to what has become a global issue. Recent developments, such as the US lifting bans on certain elephant trophy imports and changes to the Mugabe government in Zimbabwe, add to the intrigue of what is already a fascinating place.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Roughly 60 percent of millennials want to increase sustainability efforts in business. Millennials make up the largest group of consumers besides baby boomers, and 72 percent are willing to pay more for products from businesses committed to sustainability.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Sustainability Today in partnership with Innovation & Tech Today. Special Report: The New Reality - Our Burning Melting World
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - As a reformed banker, I tend to be alert whenever I hear folks talking about investment and investors. Over the past few Sustainable Brands events, I’ve noticed, however, that the language can sometimes be a bit muddled around this topic. Investors are often lumped into one homogenous bunch, whose needs and duties are not really understood. The differences between the types of investment product and the accompanying financial risk-reward can be confused.
WALKING THE TALK - 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.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Sustainable products geeks rejoice, for 'tis once again the season of giving! And what better way to celebrate and participate than with gifts whose buying and giving creates more cheer, health, beauty and financial stability while eliminating waste, pollution and carbon emissions around the world? Here are just a few of our favorite discoveries this year of products we'd be proud to give. Waste Not You know we’re big fans of upcycling, here at SB! Here are just a few of the waste-turned-products we loved this year:
MARKETING AND COMMS - Despite mounting evidence for the business case for integrating the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into brand strategy, a new report released by Corporate Citizenship shares some alarming trends in how corporate action on the SDGs is evolving.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT - Wilmar International, the world’s largest producer of palm oil, has announced major steps forward in reducing its environmental and social impacts. The company has worked out an innovative financial deal with ING to link its existing loan to its sustainability performance, and has unveiled a policy aimed at protecting children living on its palm oil plantations. But human rights campaigners say it may be little more than a band-aid.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Packaging remains a considerable challenge for businesses looking to reduce their impacts, but innovators such as food-service supplier Eco-Products and Finnish startup Sulapac are helping to accelerate the transition to lower-impact models through cross-industry partnerships and sustainable packaging solutions.
WASTE NOT - Your morning cup of java could be good for more than just a caffeine buzz — Shell and Vancouver-based sustainable clothing company LEZÉ the Label are fueling a sustainable future with the help of waste coffee grounds.
SUPPLY CHAIN - In an effort to accelerate improvement on ethical social and environmental performance throughout the beauty supply chain, Clarins, Coty, Groupe Rocher, L’Oréal and EcoVadis have launched the Responsible Beauty Initiative (RBI).
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Maybe you remember visiting a post office to pick up one of your online purchases and seeing the hundreds, even thousands, of packages going to other shoppers — to be used once and thrown away. Sure, online purchases need to be individually labelled and protected for transport, so some form of packaging is necessary. But shouldn’t we as environmentally conscious purchasers have a say in how our goods are packaged? And shouldn't sustainably minded brands be able to offer their customers a choice in this matter? Because surely shoppers and brands would choose a returnable, recyclable package for transporting online purchases — especially if it made economic sense. This is where RePack comes in.
LEADERSHIP - Trust. It can sound a lot like a buzzword or business jargon, a word or phrase thrown around by leaders when trying to identify, define or solve a problem. Sometimes it’s not even a consideration until it’s lost. According to the 2017 Edelman Trust Barometer, only about half of the general population trusts business, government, media and nongovernmental organizations to do the right thing. Trust in business fell to 52 percent, and CEO credibility also fell globally.
WALKING THE TALK - 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.
CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING - Sustainable chemical management is a critical component of a healthy and circular future. In its second annual report, the Chemical Footprint Project (CFP) revealed encouraging advances across industries towards the use of safer materials and greater transparency.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION - Gold Standard, an organization established by WWF and other NGOs to catalyze action on climate change, is making it easier for anyone to support sustainable development projects around the world while offsetting their carbon footprint with the opening of an online ‘shop’ for carbon credits. For the first time, members of the public, small businesses and organizations can offset their emissions by purchasing carbon credits online through Gold Standard. The carbon credits offered come from a range of projects in Cambodia, China, Sudan, Ethiopia, Laos, Panama and Rwanda, with plans to add additional projects within the coming months.
WALKING THE TALK - Big news has been rolling out of the Textile Exchange 2017 Textile Sustainability Conference near Washington, D.C. this week, providing evidence of the major paradigm shift taking place in the apparel and textile industry.