Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Social Impact & Volunteering

The Path to a Brighter Future

Dec 22, 2016 10:10 AM ET

When Jessica Souto unexpectedly lost her job, then her apartment, she didn’t know how she would support her three young children. Then she found the compassionate encouragement and practical tools she needed at Pocono Area Transitional Housing (PATH), which provides temporary housing and individualized support services to homeless Monroe County families.

Education

CITGO Lake Charles Refinery Hosts STEM Educational Workshop for Local Teachers

Dec 22, 2016 9:30 AM ET

The CITGO Lake Charles Refinery, in partnership with The National Energy Education Development Project (NEED), recently hosted an informational and educational workshop for 30 local STEM teachers to enhance the science, technology, engineering and math-based education curriculum used in their classrooms.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Alabama Tissue Site Uses Waste to Help Farmers Grow Crops

Dec 22, 2016 9:15 AM ET

SCA in Barton, Alabama, has started to provide a soil improver made from its residual solids. Nearby farmers have begun using the substance to improve the soil quality for growing crops. It’s a win-win: farmers improve their crops and SCA sends less solids to landfill.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Sappi Employees Are Giving Back to Neighboring Communities

Dec 22, 2016 9:00 AM ET

Over $15,000—that’s how much employees at Sappi’s Somerset Mill raised this holiday season to feed undernourished families in neighboring communities.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

BSR Conference 2016: Thinking the Unthinkable with Nik Gowing

Dec 22, 2016 9:00 AM ET

In a plenary address at the BSR Conference 2016, Co-Author of 'Thinking the Unthinkable' and Visiting Professor at King’s College London and Nanyang Technological University Nik Gowing explored how being bold can help build a better world.

Education

Xylem Impeller Takes a Look at the Science of Snow

Dec 22, 2016 8:15 AM ET

With winter approaching in the northern hemisphere, Impeller takes a look at the science of snow. From the creation a single snowflake to man-made mountains of it in the desert, these videos explore the beauty and complexity of snow.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Adapting to the Corporate Responsibility-Conscious Occupier

Dec 22, 2016 7:55 AM ET

Understanding occupier satisfaction is vital to the success of the property industry. It enables continuous improvement in relationships between landlords and tenants, and encourages best practice property management processes by managing agents.

Environment

Can Paper Be Eco-friendly? This Label Says Yes

Dec 22, 2016 7:50 AM ET

Innovation & Technology

Business Call to Action: Our Year in Highlights

Dec 21, 2016 7:05 PM ET

In 2016, new BCtA member companies have made significant commitments to all 17 SDGs. By 2030, these combined commitments will result in increased access to financial services for 22 million people, improved access to energy for 8 million people, improved health outcomes for over 500 million people and a 438-million-ton reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, along with many other positive outcomes.

Events, Media & Communications

TCFD's Long-Awaited Report Revealed

Dec 21, 2016 5:30 PM ET

After a year of intensive work, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) today laid out its eagerly-awaited recommendations designed to help standardise and mainstream considerations about the impacts of climate change on companies.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

A New Set of Wheels for Christmas

Dec 21, 2016 4:30 PM ET

In 1996, a few employees at Duke Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant in Southport, N.C., decided to collect donations to buy a handful of bicycles for needy children at a local school. The next year, more employees participated and even more bikes were delivered.
Nearly 20 years later, the effort is still going strong.

Environment

Empowering the Marketplace for a Sustainable Future

Dec 21, 2016 4:15 PM ET

As the year is winding down, Leonardo Academy's team of experts is gearing up to expand the impact of their sustainability and environmental improvement projects.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Best Practice: Autumn 2016

Dec 21, 2016 4:15 PM ET

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Jonathan Lash Appointed to International Living Future Institute Board of Directors

Dec 21, 2016 4:00 PM ET

The International Living Future Institute (ILFI) announced today that Jonathan Lash, president of Hampshire College and an internationally recognized sustainability leader, will join the ILFI’s Board of Directors. Under Lash’s leadership, Hampshire’s newly constructed 17,000 square foot R.W. Kern Center is pursuing certification as a Living Building, a major part of the college’s broad initiative to transform its campus into a living laboratory for sustainability systems and performance.

Energy

LG Leading the Way in LED Lighting Efficiency With 'No-Load Draw' and Wireless Technologies

Dec 21, 2016 3:00 PM ET

New LED ballasted tube lighting fixtures with external drivers from LG Electronics are among the first to meet the U.S. Department of Energy’s stringent new external power supply standards that took effect this year, LG Electronics USA announced.

Environment

An Exclusive Look at Climate of Hope, Michael Bloomberg and Carl Pope’s New Book on Climate Change

Dec 21, 2016 2:40 PM ET

Climate change is perhaps the gravest challenge of this generation. And yet, its sharpest consequences are often local: The tens of thousands who have to flee the flames of a California wildfire. The generation that loses its livelihood after a lake dries up in Bolivia.

Environment

How We Fight Back, Part II

Dec 21, 2016 2:35 PM ET

This week on Sea Change Radio, in the second half of our discussion with former senior advisers to the Bernie Sanders campaign, Becky Bond and Zack Exley, host Alex Wise struggles with the harsh reality of an incoming President completely unqualified and unprepared to lead the planet's only superpower.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

AccountAbility Launches New Website

Dec 21, 2016 1:00 PM ET

AccountAbility is pleased to announce the launch of its newly redesigned website – www.accountability.org. The website is positioned to be a leading source for cutting-edge insights, solutions, and interactive features for the sustainability and CR community.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

AkzoNobel Partners with Leaders of the Future to Revitalize US Community

Dec 21, 2016 11:00 AM ET

A group of young people in the US who are working to eradicate poverty and blight in Pontiac, Michigan, have joined forces with AkzoNobel’s Human Cities initiative in order to further revitalize the city and help make people’s lives more liveable and inspiring.

Health & Healthcare

Food Safety for Holiday Leftovers

Dec 21, 2016 10:30 AM ET

Are you guilty of just throwing your leftovers in the fridge as is after the big meal? Come out of your food coma and do it right. Holiday leftovers are a great way to use up excess food but require proper planning to ensure you use them safely.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Cherishing Memories, Building New Ones

Dec 21, 2016 9:55 AM ET

Six years ago, 77-year-old Mason Linn noticed a change in his wife Yvonne’s behavior. She began doing things like putting the car in reverse instead of drive. Soon after, she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Once Mason became Yvonne’s full-time caregiver, he wanted to find a safe, understanding environment that she could visit and enjoy activities outside of their home.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Women in Capital Markets Recognized Scotiabank’s Marian Lawson

Dec 21, 2016 9:35 AM ET

Women in Capital Markets recognized Scotiabank’s Marian Lawson with a leadership award.

Energy

SCA Donates Wood Pallets to Help Heat Greenwich Public Works Building

Dec 21, 2016 9:35 AM ET

Every day, SCA’s converting facility in Greenwich, NY, receives shipments of giant paper rolls for converting to SCA products, like napkins, towels and bath tissue. The rolls are supported by wood pallets to keep them stable inside the tractor trailer. Prior to the winter of 2015, once the materials were offloaded inside, the pallets went unused, sitting in an ever-growing pile outside the facility.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Sodexo Reinforces an Already Robust Commitment to Animal Welfare by Working with U.S. Suppliers to Improve Conditions of Broiler Chickens

Dec 21, 2016 9:30 AM ET

In a joint announcement today with the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), Sodexo, world leader in Quality of Life services, committed to working with U.S. suppliers to further improve the treatment of broiler chickens in its supply chain by 2024.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

EHS Management for Terminal Demolition and Site Restoration for a Global Oil and Gas Client

Dec 21, 2016 9:05 AM ET

A global oil and gas company required final decommissioning at a former terminal and blending facility that had been idle for almost a decade. The 3-acre site, located in Durban, South Africa, required the removal of all above and below ground structures, underground utilities, process equipment, buildings, concrete slabs and foundations.
The objective of the project was to demolish the structures to safety requirements agreed upon by the province, port authority and client, so that the client could completely exit the site.