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Innovation & TechnologyInnovation & Technology
Entrepreneurs Hoping to Fix Food System by Taking the “Ick!” Out of Cricket
Entrepreneurs Hoping to Fix Food System by Taking the “Ick!” Out of Cricket
Published on December 16, 2013
Written by Brady Hamed
About a 7 minute read

Earlier this year, the United Nations released a report on incorporating insects into the diet as a means of increasing nutrition in developing nations and reducing the carbon footprint of the food production industry. While many might have taken this report as a bit of a novelty, it has captured the imagination of several mindful entrepreneurs set to change the way we eat. Read More...

Circular EconomyCircular Economy
Helping PDP Engage Brands to Revalue Plastic
Helping PDP Engage Brands to Revalue Plastic
Published on December 8, 2013
Written by Carley Klekas
About a 4 minute read

The Plastic Disclosure Project sees an influential need for companies to start disclosing their plastic footprint in order to create a benchmark for reduction by increasing recycling and adding value back into plastic use. Read More...

Marketing & Communications
Disney, Wells Fargo, Google Among U.S. Companies Proactively Pricing Carbon, Says CDP
Disney, Wells Fargo, Google Among U.S. Companies Proactively Pricing Carbon, Says CDP
Published on December 6, 2013
Written by Sustainable Brands
About a 3 minute read

CDP announced today that 29 major publicly traded companies based in or operating in the U.S. disclosed an internal price on carbon pollution to CDP (formerly known as the Carbon Disclosure Project) in 2013, detailing both the risk and potential business opportunity for early action by their companies. Prices range from $6-60 dollars, and exist at companies spanning all sectors of the economy, including energy, utilities, airlines, technology and the financial industry. Twenty-seven of the companies are listed in the S&P 500, while the other two (BP and Royal Dutch Shell) are foreign-based. Read More...

Supply Chain
After Years of Pressure, Wilmar International Commits to Ending Deforestation Practices
After Years of Pressure, Wilmar International Commits to Ending Deforestation Practices
Published on December 5, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 3 minute read

Wilmar International, the world's largest palm oil trader, today announced a No Deforestation Policy in response to pressure from Greenpeace, NGOs and consumers around the world. Read More...

Consumer Behavior ChangeMarketing & Communications
How to Get People to Reuse Their Hotel Towels
How to Get People to Reuse Their Hotel Towels
Published on December 5, 2013
Written by Ted Page
About a 4 minute read

in their excellent book, "Switch," researchers Dan and Chip Heath revealed promoting "contagious behavior" as an effective way to convince people to reuse their towels. Read More...

Marketing & CommunicationsCircular Economy
This Black Friday, Patagonia Invites You to Celebrate the Stuff You Already Own
This Black Friday, Patagonia Invites You to Celebrate the Stuff You Already Own
Published on November 27, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 2 minute read

Socially conscious outdoor apparel company Patagonia has made its feelings about mass consumption clear in a number of ways — last month, it launched its Responsible Economy campaign, which calls on consumers and businesses alike to rethink disposability for more effective resource allocation; its Common Threads Partnership urges customers to only buy what they need and to recycle their worn-out Patagonia gear through the company’s take-back program; and, perhaps most famously, with its full-page New York Times ad on B Read More...

Innovation & Technology
C2C Product Innovation Challenge Winners Bring Breakthroughs in Sustainable Building Materials
C2C Product Innovation Challenge Winners Bring Breakthroughs in Sustainable Building Materials
Published on November 22, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 3 minute read

The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute and Make It Right have announced four winners of its second annual Innovation Challenge, that have designed building products that have the potential to revolutionize the affordable housing industry, redefine product beauty, and embrace the highest standards of environmental and human safety. Read More...

Marketing & Communications
New Report Reveals Global Trends, 'Perspectives' on CR Reporting
New Report Reveals Global Trends, 'Perspectives' on CR Reporting
Published on November 19, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 3 minute read

CorporateRegister.com, which hosts and manages the global online directory of corporate responsibility (CR) reports, today released its annual free CR Perspectives report, combining data, insight and opinion to reveal how global CR reporting has developed and where it might be headed. Read More...

Consumer Behavior ChangeOrganizational Governance
Employee Engagement: Why Motivating the Elephant Is Better Than Rewarding the Rider
Employee Engagement: Why Motivating the Elephant Is Better Than Rewarding the Rider
Published on November 13, 2013
Written by Vicky Grinnell-Wright
About a 5 minute read

Many organisations are grappling with the same question: How do we create an employee reward and recognition programme designed to deliver widely adopted and sustained pro-environmental behaviours? Read More...

Marketing & Communications
Jones Lang LaSalle Illustrates Commitment to Responsible Business in Latest Sustainability Report
Jones Lang LaSalle Illustrates Commitment to Responsible Business in Latest Sustainability Report
Published on September 25, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 2 minute read

Jones Lang LaSalle last week released its 2012 Sustainability Report, “Moving toward a more sustainable enterprise,” which details the company’s services, operations and client-focused strategies to achieve long-term sustainable solutions across five sustainability categories: energy and resources; client service excellence; green buildings; community and supply chain; and workplace, well-being and diversity. Read More...

Circular Economy
Two-Thirds of Scholastic Books Now Sourced From FSC-Certified Paper
Two-Thirds of Scholastic Books Now Sourced From FSC-Certified Paper
Published on September 17, 2013
Written by Mike Hower
About a 2 minute read

Scholastic, Inc., leading publisher of books for children and young adults, announced on Monday that it now purchases 68.2 percent of its paper from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified sources, surpassing its original goal of increasing the amount of FSC-certified paper purchased for its publications to 30 percent by 2012.The global children's publishing, education and media company says that after making significant gains toward the FSC goal between 2008 and 2011, it increased its goal for 2012 from 30 percent to 35 percent of all paper purchased to be FSC-certified. Scholastic also pledged to by the same date increase its use of recycled paper to 25 percent, of which 75 percent would be post-consumer waste. Read More...

Marketing & Communications
Chipotle Launches Assault on Big Food with Short Film, and There's More to Come
Chipotle Launches Assault on Big Food with Short Film, and There's More to Come
Published on September 16, 2013
Written by Dale Buss
About a 4 minute read

Chipotle keeps sticking its neck out for "sustainable," locally produced food — now with an animated short-film attack on "Big Food" and with the promise of more expansive and aggressive efforts to come."The Scarecrow" is a 3-1/2-minute film that Chipotle Mexican Grill released online last week that depicts what the brand calls "a dystopian fantasy world" in which "all food production is controlled by fictional industrial giant Crow Foods. Scarecrows have been displaced from their traditional role of protecting food, and are now servants to the crows and their evil plans to dominate the food system." Read More...

Innovation & Technology
10 Finalists in Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge Show What’s Next in Green Building
10 Finalists in Cradle to Cradle Product Innovation Challenge Show What’s Next in Green Building
Published on September 15, 2013
Written by Jennifer Elks
About a 3 minute read

Products from ten companies have been selected as finalists for the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Product Innovation Challenge, sponsored by the Schmidt Family Foundation and the Dutch Postcode Lottery. Three winners will be selected from this group and will share a cash prize of $250,000.The Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, in partnership with Make It Right, launched its first-ever Product Innovation Challenge in November 2012. By June, over 100 products had been entered for consideration. Read More...

Organizational GovernanceCircular Economy
IKEA and Kingfisher Pledge Ambitious 'Net Positive' Agendas, But Can They Work?
IKEA and Kingfisher Pledge Ambitious 'Net Positive' Agendas, But Can They Work?
Published on August 20, 2013
Written by Leon Kaye
About a 6 minute read

In a world in which natural resources have become scarcer, can these companies truly contribute to the planet more than what they can, and will, take from it? Read More...

Circular Economy
What Internet Citizens Should Know About the Personal Data Economy
What Internet Citizens Should Know About the Personal Data Economy
Published on July 17, 2013
Written by Mara Slade
About a 7 minute read

John C. Havens is founder of the H(app)athon Project, a contributing writer for Mashable, and author of the upcoming book, Hacking Happiness. At Sustainable Brands ’13 last month, he spoke on the main stage about “Unleashing the Personal Data Economy,” and we later dove further into the subject.What exactly is the personal data economy? Read More...

Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Listen Up: How One Brand Learned That Greenwashing Is Never an 'Ethical Choice'
Listen Up: How One Brand Learned That Greenwashing Is Never an 'Ethical Choice'
Published on July 3, 2013
Written by Kath Dewar
About a 4 minute read

Dole has both made a U-turn and reached out to critics in an apparent desire to understand where they went wrong in this market and how they might set things right. Read More...

Circular EconomyCircular Economy
Ecovative Foraging Fungi to Displace Plastic Packaging, Setting Sights on Net Positivity
Ecovative Foraging Fungi to Displace Plastic Packaging, Setting Sights on Net Positivity
Published on June 26, 2013
Written by Sam Harrington
About a 3 minute read

In a global economy infamous for consumer consumption of “things,” Ecovative delivers environmentally responsible solutions with “win-win-win” materials. These materials are a win for our planet, for people and for Ecovative's profit. To achieve these universal benefits, instead of accepting the first, the fastest or the easiest option for production, our approach is to start from scratch and ask how nature accomplishes a task. Read More...

Marketing & CommunicationsMarketing & Communications
Cone Communications Launches Tool to Measure CSR And Social Leadership
Cone Communications Launches Tool to Measure CSR And Social Leadership
Published on June 3, 2013
Written by Mike Hower
About a 2 minute read

Cone Communications has launched a social media and CSR product called the CSR SocialScore, which serves as a real-time snapshot of how a brand uses social media to inform and engage stakeholders.The Boston-based public relations and marketing agency says the product helps companies equally measure their ability to “inform” and “engage” stakeholders:Inform: This portion of the score looks at a company’s online CSR reporting and baseline CSR social media presence. Quantitative data is garnered through a variety of social media monitoring, research and analytics tools. Read More...

Organizational Governance
What I Learned About Sustainability at REI, Part 4: Innovation Over Trade-Offs
What I Learned About Sustainability at REI, Part 4: Innovation Over Trade-Offs
Published on June 3, 2013
Written by Kevin Hagen
About a 4 minute read

This is the fourth in a series of posts on things Kevin Hagen learned while leading Corporate Social Responsibility at REI for the past seven years (read parts one, Read More...

Organizational Governance
What I Learned About Sustainability At REI, Part 3: Incremental vs. Breakthrough Changes
What I Learned About Sustainability At REI, Part 3: Incremental vs. Breakthrough Changes
Published on May 29, 2013
Written by Kevin Hagen
About a 3 minute read

This is the third in a series of posts on things I learned while leading Corporate Social Responsibility at REI for the past seven years (read parts one and two).I’m often asked if incremental improvements can really lead to sustainable business outcomes. In my experience leading sustainability and corporate social responsibility efforts at REI the answer is: yes and no. It all depends on what happens next. Read More...

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