MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS -
Consumers now expect companies to be an active participant — if not a driving force — in solving the most pressing social and environmental issues, according to the 2013 Cone Communications/Echo Global CSR Study.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
What does it take to grow and profit in the immensely competitive household and personal products industry dominated by giants Unilever and Procter & Gamble? And how can sustainability be the lever that provides revenue growth and product differentiation?
PRESS RELEASE -
SAN FRANCISCO, California, May 8, 2013 – Sustainable Brands® announced today that the Emerging Economies Consumer Behavior Change Project will launch at the Sustainable Brands Rio conference in Brazil.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
Research on sustainable consumption has boomed since the mid 2000s. The rise of social media as a tool for interaction with, and scrutiny of, brands has increased consumer interest in sustainability, alternative products and lifestyle.
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
As consumers become increasingly demanding of more social and environmental sustainability efforts from their favorite brands, Nestlé is one multinational that is responding in kind. The challenges for the world’s largest food company, however, are as complicated as the company’s long and tangled supply chain.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR CHANGE -
This is an edited excerpt from Pablo Barros' upcoming book, Behaviour change, consumption and sustainability: how companies can influence individuals in a world in transition, due for publication in September 2013.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Two out of three mid-sized companies are looking either to enhance or establish corporate social responsibility programs, according to a recent report by non-profit Business4Better (B4B).
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Last week marked the official launch of an innovative initiative supported by Ecover, maker of non-toxic cleaning products, and Closed Loop Recycling (CLR), a UK operation that takes discarded soda and water bottles made from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and milk bottles made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and recycles them back into food-grade plastic for use in new packaging (rHDPE). The collaboration will use waste plastic collected from the seas around the UK by EU fishermen and recycled at Closed Loop’s Dagenham facility for reuse in new packaging.
FINANCE & INVESTMENT -
A record number of investors have filed shareholder resolutions on environmental and social issues as part of the Proxy Preview 2013 report released today.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Ask a room full of consumers, “Who here hates to see things go to waste?” and every hand will go up energetically. But if everyone hates to waste, then how come we generate so much of it? And what can we do to prevent waste from being created in the first place? Answering these questions can be profitable and fun.
ORGANIZATIONAL GOVERNANCE -
Since the dawn of time, human beings have organized into groups in order to fulfill basic human needs. We join together to gain stability, feel a sense of belonging, build our self-esteem and experience self-actualization. Traditionally, the ideal workplace has combined these elements, the upper ladders of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, into a fulfilling, well-functioning organization.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Companies reporting a profit from their sustainability efforts rose 23 percent last year, to 37 percent of the total, according to a new global study called The Innovation Bottom Line, released yesterday by the MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR) and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
INNOVATION & TECHNOLOGY -
Is there such a thing as sustainable consumption? A new study by BBMG, GlobeScan and SustainAbility finds that a majority of consumers across six international markets are seeking to reconcile their desire for shopping and style with responsibility to the environment and society through their purchases.
CIRCULAR ECONOMY -
Consumers remain willing to pay a premium for ethical goods and services despite lingering economic troubles, according to a new study.
Behavior change is fast becoming the holy grail of the sustainability sectors.