Insights from COP19: Women Play a Critical Role in Global Climate Crisis

December 5, 2013, 3:54 pm

≫ Next: After Years of Pressure, Wilmar International Commits to Ending Deforestation Practices

≪ Previous: How to Get People to Reuse Their Hotel Towels

The Rainforest Alliance’s climate team reports back from COP19, highlighting the increasingly crucial role of women in helping communities to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

You’ve undoubtedly heard the old saying: “Behind every great man is a great woman.” Today, in many parts of the world, women are getting out in front and playing crucial roles in solving some of the world’s most pressing problems. Unfortunately, when it comes to one of the greatest challenges of the 21^st century — combating climate change — women are too often left out of the conversation altogether.

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After Years of Pressure, Wilmar International Commits to Ending Deforestation Practices

December 5, 2013, 3:23 pm

≫ Next: Disney, Wells Fargo, Google Among U.S. Companies Proactively Pricing Carbon, Says CDP

≪ Previous: Insights from COP19: Women Play a Critical Role in Global Climate Crisis

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.

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Disney, Wells Fargo, Google Among U.S. Companies Proactively Pricing Carbon, Says CDP

December 5, 2013, 5:13 pm

≫ Next: Uber Spreading Holiday Cheer with Christmas Tree Delivery

≪ Previous: After Years of Pressure, Wilmar International Commits to Ending Deforestation Practices

CDP announced today that29 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.

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Uber Spreading Holiday Cheer with Christmas Tree Delivery

December 5, 2013, 10:03 am

≫ Next: The SB Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Gifts That Truly Keep On Giving

≪ Previous: Disney, Wells Fargo, Google Among U.S. Companies Proactively Pricing Carbon, Says CDP

International on-demand car-service app Uber has announced a partnership with Home Depot to deliver Christmas trees to residents in 10 US cities. With a bit of luck, good timing and holiday magic, Uber will deliver a live tree to your doorstep today for $135, according to its blog.

What to do:

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The SB Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Gifts That Truly Keep On Giving

December 6, 2013, 2:28 am

≫ Next: Amazon Now Offering 200,000 Products with 'Frustration-Free' Packaging

≪ Previous: Uber Spreading Holiday Cheer with Christmas Tree Delivery

We like these gift ideas because they’re thoughtfully and responsibly produced, they each have a story and many embody the true spirit of giving by benefiting people in need through buy-one-give-one models or increasing the financial stability of artisans around the world … and all are under $100. So in no particular order, here are our socially and environmentally conscious favorites this season:

Faire collection

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Amazon Now Offering 200,000 Products with 'Frustration-Free' Packaging

December 6, 2013, 10:29 am

≫ Next: Charting a Course for Sustainable Design

≪ Previous: The SB Holiday Gift Guide: 10 Gifts That Truly Keep On Giving

On Thursday, Amazon announced that its Frustration-Free Packaging initiative, the retailer’s effort to liberate products from hermetically sealed clamshell cases and plastic-coated steel-wire ties, now offers over 200,000 items, up from 19 when the initiative first launched five years ago.

To try and alleviate the frustration many people experience when opening toys and electronics, Amazon is working with leading manufacturers to deliver products inside smaller, easy-to-open, recyclable cardboard boxes that reduce the overall amount of packaging used while still protecting what’s inside.

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Charting a Course for Sustainable Design

December 6, 2013, 2:12 pm

≫ Next: From Band-Aids to Blood Analyzers: J&J's Nimble Approach to Marketing Sustainability

≪ Previous: Amazon Now Offering 200,000 Products with 'Frustration-Free' Packaging

I left art school in the mid ‘90s with a Masters in Product Design, a passion for sustainability and a desire not to fill the world with more meaningless stuff. Despite my youthful energy and enthusiasm, I wasn’t actually able or confident to do a ‘real’ project for at least three years afterwards. The challenges of sustainability just seemed so monumental to me that I was left feeling paralyzed and lost. The need to redesign and rethink pretty much everything meant that no single intervention ever seemed enough.

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From Band-Aids to Blood Analyzers: J&J's Nimble Approach to Marketing Sustainability

December 7, 2013, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: Ampersand Nation Rising

≪ Previous: Charting a Course for Sustainable Design

How do you ensure that your company’s marketing department doesn’t get too carried away in communicating the sustainability benefits of products?

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Ampersand Nation Rising

December 9, 2013, 11:52 am

≫ Next: Helping PDP Engage Brands to Revalue Plastic

≪ Previous: From Band-Aids to Blood Analyzers: J&J's Nimble Approach to Marketing Sustainability

“Focus” is having a great run these days. Daniel Goleman’s book on it is excellent. People with focus are able to capture more information, complete tasks sooner, become skilled in a discipline earlier. Malcolm Gladwell has written eloquently about the need to spend 10,000 hours in order to truly master a subject. There’s a lot to be said for single-mindedness.

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Helping PDP Engage Brands to Revalue Plastic

December 8, 2013, 12:19 am

≫ Next: Companies Need a New Game Plan for Chemical Management

≪ Previous: Ampersand Nation Rising

This post is part of a series written by MBA and MPA candidates in Presidio Graduate School’s Managerial Marketing course, examining the role of marketing in advancing sustainability across all sectors.

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Companies Need a New Game Plan for Chemical Management

December 8, 2013, 2:34 pm

≫ Next: How to Engage Communities with Your Brand

≪ Previous: Helping PDP Engage Brands to Revalue Plastic

Consumer products companies are faced with a new chemical agenda. The market expectation has shifted from outdated regulatory compliance to greater ingredient transparency and more stringent health and environmental protection. Companies have traditionally siloed their chemical policies and programs in legal or regulatory departments, but these teams can’t manage the new rules of the game on their own. They need a new framework with an overarching direction and purpose that engages the business to understand, assess, improve and disclose chemical information and hazards. In short, they need a new game plan for chemical management.

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How to Engage Communities with Your Brand

December 7, 2013, 10:09 pm

≫ Next: GM Global Headquarters Achieves Zero Waste

≪ Previous: Companies Need a New Game Plan for Chemical Management

If the perception of your brand’s green efforts is falling short of reality, then it’s time to stop and re-examine all aspects of the social impact of your outreach. Gone are the days when consumers would buy “green” for green’s sake; they want to see for themselves how a brand is actually making a difference. And it’s in your best interest to inform and educate them.

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GM Global Headquarters Achieves Zero Waste

December 9, 2013, 10:53 pm

≫ Next: Apple, Ford Receive Perfect Scores in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index

≪ Previous: How to Engage Communities with Your Brand

General Motors announced this week that its company headquarters in Detroit produces 5 million pounds of trash annually — the equivalent of 200,000 full garbage bags — which GM now diverts from the landfill. The automaker says the complex now recycles 49 percent of its total waste and converts the rest, including food scraps and used containers, to renewable energy that powers other nearby businesses.

While GM already has more than 100 landfill-free sites, the Renaissance Center is the most complex, and is the only facility open to the public. Covering 5.5 million square feet, the building houses the Western Hemisphere's tallest all-hotel skyscraper, 11 other businesses, 20 restaurants and 27 retailers. It accommodates 12,000 office workers and 3,000 visitors daily.

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Apple, Ford Receive Perfect Scores in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index

December 9, 2013, 10:10 pm

≫ Next: Rethinking the Obvious: Lean and Sustainability

≪ Previous: GM Global Headquarters Achieves Zero Waste

Apple, Ford, HP and 10 other fortune-ranked companies recently received 100 percent ratings in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) report, a national benchmark for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) workplace inclusion.

Other fortune-ranked companies to receive perfect scores include Chevron, General Motors, GE, AT&T, Bank of America, McKesson, Verizon, JPMorgan Chase, IBM and Citigroup.

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Rethinking the Obvious: Lean and Sustainability

December 9, 2013, 1:37 am

≫ Next: Emotion v. Action: 4 Key Engagement Lessons from Unilever's Project Sunlight

≪ Previous: Apple, Ford Receive Perfect Scores in HRC’s Corporate Equality Index

For those not already familiar with the term, "Lean" is a concept that started in manufacturing but is broadly applicable. It refers to a continuous improvement focus on waste reduction. Most notably, Toyota used Lean to attain world-class manufacturing status but the concept is an amalgamation of many schools of thought. For details, see an overview of lean manufacturing.

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Emotion v. Action: 4 Key Engagement Lessons from Unilever's Project Sunlight

December 12, 2013, 12:19 pm

≫ Next: 5 Things Children Need to Know About Brands

≪ Previous: Rethinking the Obvious: Lean and Sustainability

Unilever has been a clear leader in sustainability with its ambition and actions against its Sustainable Living Plan, and has just started its first consumer-facing corporate brand campaign around this, called Project Sunlight. At Given London we have noticed a step-change in the number of corporate brand teams seeking to facilitate more sustainable lifestyles for their customers.

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5 Things Children Need to Know About Brands

December 12, 2013, 3:52 pm

≫ Next: Engaging Outraged Stakeholders: The Power of Engagement (Part 1 of 2)

≪ Previous: Emotion v. Action: 4 Key Engagement Lessons from Unilever's Project Sunlight

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. Advertising's big spenders are ramping up for their favourite time of the year. The marketing machine that amplifies the magic of Christmas is swinging into action and it's an awesome sight to behold. Christmas is getting bigger and bigger each year. In the United States, Black Friday signals the beginning of a festive spending spree that last year was estimated at nearly $60 billion, a rise of over 10 percent on the previous year.

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Engaging Outraged Stakeholders: The Power of Engagement (Part 1 of 2)

December 12, 2013, 3:14 pm

≫ Next: How Phoenix Is Transforming Trash Into Resources

≪ Previous: 5 Things Children Need to Know About Brands

This is the first in a series of excerpts from Engaging Outraged Stakeholders: A How-To Guide for Uniting the Left, Right, Capitalists and Activists (Affinity Press, 2013), the new book from Future 500, co-written by CEO Bill Shireman, COO Erik Wohlgemuth and VP of Stakeholder Engagement Danna Pfahl. We begin with the first of two posts that make up Chapter Two: The Power of Engagement.

Erik Wohlgemuth

Danna Pfahl

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How Phoenix Is Transforming Trash Into Resources

December 12, 2013, 5:57 pm

≫ Next: Ford Foresees Going Back to Basics as One of Top Consumer Trends in 2014

≪ Previous: Engaging Outraged Stakeholders: The Power of Engagement (Part 1 of 2)

Phoenix, Arizona is a huge and growing city — the sixth largest in the U.S. — with a population of 1.4 million residents embedded in a metropolitan area of more than four million people. Because of its location surrounded by mountains in the hot and dry Sonoran desert, Phoenix has by necessity become a leader in the world of sustainability, with a plan focusing on the nexus of energy, water, population and waste. Waste value stream management is one of the most difficult — but potentially rewarding — challenge areas within the city’s strategy.

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Ford Foresees Going Back to Basics as One of Top Consumer Trends in 2014

December 13, 2013, 3:59 pm

≫ Next: Vertical or Horizontal? Measuring Sustainability & Supply Chain Implications

≪ Previous: How Phoenix Is Transforming Trash Into Resources

On Thursday, Ford Motor Company released its second annual trend report for the upcoming year. Among the top 10 predicted global consumer trends on the list: Consumers reevaluating their relationships with technology, balancing the need to be constantly plugged in with a new appreciation for spending quality time offline.

Looking Further with Ford 2014 highlights 10 trends for the new year that explore how the technology explosion will affect consumer choices and behaviors.

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