News from Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest impact news from companies embracing the triple bottom line, shared via 3BL's publishing platform.

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Education

North Carolina Schoolchildren Give Mohawk Group and Karastan a Hand in Sustainability

Rockingham County students in North Carolina recently joined Mohawk Group and Karastan to commemorate the installation of an on-campus SmartFlower™ solar energy unit with a collaborative hands-on art project facilitated by plant employees. On a canvas backdrop using eco-friendly paint, students from Morehead High School and Central Elementary School covered their hands in different colors and imprinted them around a message embodying Mohawk’s commitment to sustainability: “We Believe in Handprints Over Footprints.”

Responsible Production & Consumption

PODCAST: Welcome to Our Food Journey

In this episode, hosts Ethan Watters and Ron DeSantis discuss access to food and how large organizations like Hormel Foods can leverage their power and resources to make good food available to all.

Environment

Corporate Reporting Dialogue Announces Market Consultation on Building Better Alignment

Participants of the Corporate Reporting Dialogue – an initiative bringing together the major standard setters and framework providers globally – are launching a six-week global consultation process on Wednesday 20 March 2019, to gather views from stakeholders on how to drive better alignment of sustainability reporting frameworks, as well as with frameworks that promote integration between non-financial and financial reporting.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates More Than 40,000 Pounds of Protein to Three Square Food Bank; Eckrich Brand Provides Funds to Local Schools

Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Albertsons joined forces to donate more than 40,000 pounds of protein to Three Square Food Bank. Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2019 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour.

Health & Healthcare

During National Nutrition Month, Aramark and American Heart Association Share Year 3 Healthy for Life® 20 By 20 Results

Three years ago, Aramark teamed up with the American Heart Association as part of an innovative initiative called Healthy for Life® 20 By 20. The combined goal: To improve the health of Americans 20 percent by the end of 2020.

Innovation & Technology

General Motors Donates First-Generation Self-Driving Test Vehicle

When General Motors’ self-driving technology made its debut in 2016 in Cruise Automation test vehicles on the streets of San Francisco, it marked a significant step in our journey to zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Three years and thousands of real-world miles later — one of those first self-driving test vehicles was donated to The Henry Ford as the first autonomous car to be added to the museum’s collection in Dearborn, Michigan.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Stella McCartney, Christopher Raeburn Among Winners of Inaugural CO10 Sustainability Award

The designer has just marked his 10th year in business and last year was named global creative director of Timberland. Under his new role, Raeburn will work with Timberland on footwear, apparel and accessories to bring his sustainability ethos into Timberland’s creative strategy and retail spaces.

Diversity & Inclusion

Hear Her Story: Q&A with Idalia Pineda, Sewing Planning Manager at Gildan

From dreams to reality, Idalia shares her Gildan story that started over 20 years ago when she was only in college.

Research, Reports & Publications

Observations for a Better World – Increasing Awareness, Resource Efficiency, and Safety in Societies

Vaisala, a global leader in environmental and industrial measurement, has published its Annual Report 2018. The report integrates strategy, value creation, financial statements, governance, and sustainability information all into one coherent report.

Health & Healthcare

Pfizer Releases 2018 Annual Review

Today, Pfizer released the 2018 Annual Review highlighting the ways that patients are the driving force behind every aspect of the company’s business in its mission to deliver innovative medicines and vaccines that help improve health and well-being at every stage of life.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Holland America Line Bestows Shared Humanity Award to Oprah Winfrey

At a special gathering on board Nieuw Statendam following the special Girls’ Getaway sailing in partnership with O, The Oprah Magazine, Holland America Line bestowed its Shared Humanity Award on Oprah Winfrey — philanthropist, global media leader and founder and editorial director of the magazine. At the event, Holland America Line presented a $40,000 donation to Oprah Winfrey’s Leadership Academy for Girls to commemorate the award and honored her as official godmother of the new ship.

Environment

Jeremy Hance: From Bottleneck to Breakthrough

How do you usually react to the stream of dire warnings about climate change and wildlife extinction?

Events, Media & Communications

The One Planet Summit: Collective Action Makes a Positive Impact

Schneider Electric is committed to accelerating the global transition to a low-carbon economy. That’s why we’ll be participating this year’s One Planet Summit — an event under the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) from March 11 – 15 in Nairobi, Kenya.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Japanese Bag Manufacturer Empowering Women in the Philippines by Teaching New Skills and Providing Fair Wages

Japanese raffia bag manufacturer Sulci joins Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to provide new skills and reliable incomes to working mothers in the Philippines by teaching crocheting and providing 100 jobs to women living in Carcar City, Cebu Island, by 2020.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

All Individuals Living With Cerebral Palsy, and Other Disabilities, Deserve a Life Without Limits

Should a trauma at birth or accident deny you the chance to experience life’s milestones and accomplishments? Imagine a world where your independence and freedom to make your own decisions, were impacted by not only your level of ability, but societal expectations as well? This is a reality for more than 4 million people in the United States living with cerebral palsy, Autism, Intellectual and Developmental Disability (ID/DD), or other physical disabilities.

Diversity & Inclusion

Meet the Reinventor: Mara Lecocq, helping girls crack the Secret Code

With a customizable protagonist, from hair and skin color to name personalization, the story follows a young coder who builds a robot to clean her room. The book earned Lecocq a grant from Sophia Amoruso’s Girlboss Foundation and representation at the talent agency William Morris Endeavor (WME).

Research, Reports & Publications

Coca-Cola European Partners Reports on 2018 Sustainability Progress

Coca‑Cola European Partners (CCEP) set out its sustainability performance in its 2018 integrated report, published today. CCEP increased the amount of recycled PET it used in 2018, while also increasing the amount of its packaging that is recyclable and reducing the amount of sugar in its products.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Employee Engagement Makes Domtar a Great Place to Work

At Domtar, we value our employees and want them to enjoy their work. It’s why we invest in measuring employee engagement and satisfaction and use employee feedback to improve how we do business. That work paid off recently when we received Great Place to Work Certification.

Health & Healthcare

Novartis Joins the Global Chagas Disease Coalition and Also Announces First Multinational, Prospective, Randomized Study in People With Chronic Chagas Cardiomyopathy

At the Annual Meeting of the Global Chagas Disease Coalition in Barcelona, Spain, Novartis announced that it is joining the Coalition as a member contributor. In addition, the company announced its commitment to launch a multinational, prospective, randomized study with heart failure drug, Entresto® (sacubitril / valsartan), in people with chronic Chagas cardiomyopathy, one form of heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. This is the first definitive morbidity and mortality study to assess a potential therapy for cardiac disease in this underserved patient population.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Xylem Signs First-of-its-Kind Revolving Credit Facility in U.S. to Couple Interest Rates with Sustainability Performance

Xylem Inc. has announced execution of its new $800 million Senior Unsecured Revolving Credit Facility. With this transaction, Xylem has replaced its five-year $600 million revolving credit facility, while adding a sustainability-linked pricing mechanism to the new facility. The deal is one of the first sustainable improvement loans in the U.S. and the first in the General Industrial Sector. The interest rate is index-linked to Xylem’s overall sustainability performance as rated by Sustainalytics, a leading independent global provider of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) ratings. Improvements in Xylem’s sustainability performance will reduce interest rates under the facility.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

CECP's Global Exchange at the CRO Global Summit in Shanghai

Three years ago, CECP came together with its partner organizations around the world and established the Global Exchange as an opportunity to expand corporate impact and develop a shared voice on how companies are a force for good around the world. The spark for these partnerships came about because of Giving Around the Globe research.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Inogen Member Spotlight--Andrew Young, ESC

Read about EHS trends in southeast Asia in Antea Group’s blog on Andrew Young, who lives in Singapore and is a member of global EHS&S network, Inogen.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Growing a Transparent and Authentic Social Purpose With ScottsMiracle‑Gro

Gardening is not about immediate success or instant gratification. The same can be said about social purpose.

As a company for gardeners, ScottsMiracle‑Gro has a succinct purpose: “helping people express themselves on their own piece of the Earth.” Cultivating a thriving garden takes care, commitment, and flexibility to adapt as conditions change. With that, creativity – and expression – can blossom.

Innovation & Technology

Cisco GPS Challenge Highlights | Social Entrepreneur OmniVis Uses IoT to Improve Cholera Detection

OmniVis is developing a handheld device that works with smartphones to detect cholera in water samples. With the help of IoT technology, it can analyze and identify the bacteria within 30 minutes of collection.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Make Every Dollar Count: Is Your Cash Sleeping with the Right Partners?

Impact investing has emerged as a major force in philanthropy. Last year GIIN conducted a survey showing that the estimated value of the impact investing sector doubled between 2017 and 2018, increasing from $114B to $228B. There’s a growing demand for investments that actively produce measurable positive social and environmental outcomes.

Latest Campaigns

  1. AEG's Commitment to Social Impact and Volunteerism
    AEG embraces its responsibility to enrich the lives of people in the communities around the world where we do business, and to use business to create...
  2. Carbon Footprint
    We are accelerating our efforts to help build a low-carbon economy and avert the worst impacts of climate change. Our goal to reduce our GHG emissions...
  3. Environmental Sustainability
    As sustainability leaders, we implement our sustainability strategy across all company activities along the entire value chain, from raw materials to...
  4. Corporate Social Responsibility
    Corporate Social Responsibility
  5. Sustainability Report
    Our latest Sustainability Report highlights recent accomplishments and progress toward achieving goals in the environmental, social and governance...
  6. Kingfisher Around the World
    The SCS Kingfisher certification mark is showing up on an increasing number of products around the world. It differentiates companies that are making...
  7. License to Operate
    Corporate governance, risk management, operational integrity, and regulatory compliance are demanding challenges that companies face in today’s ever...
  8. IWBI | WELL Building Standard
    Our built environment can shape our habits and choices, regulate our sleep-wake cycle, drive us toward healthy and unhealthy choices, and passively...
  9. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  10. Green Mountain Energy Commitment to Sustainability
    At Green Mountain Energy Company, we share our customers’ commitment to the environment and sustainability. We are inspired by the success that we...
  11. KeyBank's Community Investment
    In states where Key has a presence, there are approximately 1.7 million low- to moderate-income (LMI) households. Many LMI individuals don’t have bank...
  12. SustainabilityHQ.com Weekly Highlights
    Highlighting the top news, commentary, and research for the week coming from SHQ. The highlights newsletter also spotlights one profiled organization...
  13. Responsible Investing
    Responsible Investing
  14. FedEx | Awards & Recognition
    We are consistently ranked among the world’s most admired brands and employers. Read more about honors and recognition for FedEx’s ongoing effort to...
  15. FedEx | Delivering for Good
    Doing what we do best for those who need it most. When disaster strikes, and there’s not a moment to lose, our people mobilize the FedEx global fleet...