What an honor to be here in this beautiful place with such a great group of passionate leaders — and even more so, to offer you some thoughts as you begin important next steps in your lives — steps that I know will be particularly important to our collective future. Read More...
To make it easier for companies to reduce their environmental impacts, businesses such as Kering, Interserve, Mars and Asda have banded together to develop a new healthy ecosystem metric designed to support companies as they make the transition to a more sustainable business model. Read More...
A resilient organization must operate in a way that ensures all associated entities survive and thrive. In a healthy ecosystem, everyone has a niche and a role; feedback loops are short and constant, ensuring accountable and creative decision-making is happening at all levels. Functioning in this way not only strengthens internal functionality, but allows organizations to better nurture crucial outside partnerships. So, what if an organization functioned like a climax ecosystem? Sharp feedback mechanisms, efficient supply chains, and self-organized teams create organizations that are always ready for the next big opportunity. Read More...
This was no introductory workshop. Everyone in attendance on Monday afternoon, day one of SB'17 Detroit, raised their hand when asked if they knew what biomimicry is, and everyone was interested in diving in and learning how to use biomimicry in their own work. Thus, organizers Nicole Hagerman Miller and Dr. Read More...
Learning from Detroit: Designing a More Diverse, Prosperous and Equitable Economy by Mara Slade Image credit: TechTown In an afternoon panel packed with Detroit leaders, we heard firsthand how they are working in human-centered ways to grow the local economy and support Detroit entrepreneurs. Read More...
By 2050, our global population will grow by more than 2 billion, which will require 70 percent more food. In addition to rising demand, companies are facing increasing scrutiny on the environmental impacts across their value chains. While improvements in processing and packaging are helping brands progress on sustainability, interventions at farm level are essential for driving real change. We recently spoke with Pure Strategies’ Co-Founder and Managing Director, Tim Greiner, to learn more about how brands and farmers both are working together to usher the industry towards a more sustainable future. Read More...
It’s been a busy year for Nestlé – joining various initiatives and making strategic investments aimed at everything from boosting recycling infrastructure to developing bio-based packaging to improving consumer eating habits. We spoke with Nestlé’s President of Corporate Affairs, Paul Bakus, ahead of his appearance this week at SB’17 Detroit, to learn how the food giant is leveraging partnerships to achieve its many sustainability goals. Read More...
Cotton is an integral part of the apparel and textile industry providing livelihoods for over 300 million people across the globe. The environmental and social implications of cotton production are, however, significant. Read More...
Human Rights Watch is calling on the fashion industry to adopt and carry out the Apparel and Footwear Supply Chain Transparency Pledge. The organization contacted 72 apparel companies, asking them to publish information identifying the factories that produce their goods, addressing a key obstacle to rooting out abusive labor practices across the industry and helping to prevent disasters such as the Rana Plaza collapse. Read More...
Four years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in which 1,134 people were killed, Fashion Revolution has released its 2017 Fashion Transparency Index, which ranks 100 of the biggest fashion companies on their social and environmental policies, practices and impacts. Read More...
Seventy-five million people work directly in the fashion and textiles industry. Many are subject to exploitation; verbal and physical abuse, unsafe working conditions and poor pay. While some progress has been made since the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in 2013, which killed 1,138 people, there is still a lot to be done. Read More...
Just weeks after the launch of McDonough Innovation’s Fashion for Good innovation and practical action lab in Amsterdam, the 12 startups selected to participate in the Plug and Play — Fashion for Good accelerator have been announced. Read More...
IBM and Energy-Blockchain Labs have launched the world’s first blockchain-based carbon credit management platform based on the open source, openly governed by Hyperledger Fabric, a blockchain technology that is intended as a foundation for developing blockchain applications or solutions. Read More...
We’re continuing our discussion (see part one) on the role of activist brands in today’s roiling political and social climate. Our insights come from the Purpose Collaborative – North America’s largest community of purpose, corporate responsibility, and sustainability experts. Tread lightly into this minefield … Read More...
Obesity, mental health problems, air and noise pollution, heat stress and social exclusion — these are just a few of the health and social challenges Europeans face today. But according to a new report released by Friends of the Earth in conjunction with the Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP), increased exposure to nature and green space could help improve both physical and mental health. Read More...
Evolving your company to embrace a social purpose business model takes commitment and energy, but you don’t have to go it alone. Here are some actions you can take right now. Read More...
The question remains of how best to assess the sustainability of whole economies. If existing measurement models such as GDP, ISEW and GPI focus on size or welfare, then we need a third class of models – one that makes it possible to measure the sustainability performance of economies. Read More...
While electric vehicles have long been identified as a leading solution to reduce emissions and combat climate change, hydrogen fuel cells are still met with significant criticism. The flammability of the element leaves many skeptical about the feasibility of fuel cell vehicles, but for companies such as Toyota and Shell, hydrogen is the future. Read More...
Plastics are an important part of the global economy and have many practical applications for everyday life, but their indisputable benefits are countered by their environmental drawbacks — especially in terms of ocean pollution. Recognizing the seriousness of the problem, more and more companies are finding new and innovative ways to tackle plastic pollution both at the source and at end-of-life. Read More...
Two new announcements from Ford highlight how the auto and mobility company is harnessing technology to get ahead. With ambitious plans to launch an autonomous vehicle in 2021, Ford has announced that it is investing $1 billion over the next five years in Argo AI, an artificial intelligence company founded by former Google and Uber leaders, to develop a virtual driver system. Read More...