Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Keep up with the latest news from 3BL’s clients.







Editors Pick

Environment

Reef Futures Looking Up! Large Scale Coral Reef Restoration is Possible

Needing to change our visual and professional perspective was the common theme behind several promising low-cost technical solutions reviewed at a recent Coral Reef Restoration Workshop. The workshop sponsored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Mars, Inc. and Paul G. Allen Philanthropies, convened a unique multi-disciplinary coalition of scientists, NGOs, coral restoration practitioners, Government and business, in Bali, Indonesia. Its aim was to identify promising evidence-based standards to scale coral restoration efforts globally.

Environment

A Holistic Approach to Water Stewardship: 5 Strategic Considerations for Food & Beverage Companies

Antea Group analyzes 5 considerations that food and beverage companies need to think about to rise to the challenge of diminishing water resources.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Hallmark President Dave Hall Helps Provide Leadership for United Way of Greater Kansas City

For decades, Hallmark and its businesses have supported the United Way to improve the health, education and financial stability of the communities where its employees work and live. In 2017, Hallmark was the No. 1 giver to the United Way of Greater Kansas City, with a donation of nearly $2.3 million. Another $773,500 was pledged from other Hallmark locations for their respective United Way chapters.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Follow the Money: How Sands Cares Assists Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth

Environment

PepsiCo Offers Free Resources to Help Schools Increase Recycling

Global consumers now use a million plastic bottles every minute. Though most beverage bottles are made from a readily recyclable type of plastic, less than 10 percent are ultimately recycled—and up to 14 million metric tons of plastic, including discarded beverage bottles, enter the world’s oceans every year. As our growing addiction to single-use plastic becomes painfully apparent on land and sea, citizens, NGOs and other stakeholders are calling on consumer goods manufacturers to do more to reduce plastic waste.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Behind the Scenes VIDEO | Nutopia Carpet Plank Collection from Mohawk Group

Our Nutopia carpet plank collection is designed to achieve petal certification by meeting stringent requirements for the Living Product Challenge. Created to transition across the floor or create defined areas in the built environment, Nutopia’s four styles can be used together as a cohesive system, or separately depending on the desired configuration, end use, and budget. Layouts can be subtle or vivid and dramatic – just like the dynamics of city life.

Green Infrastructure

Wells Fargo Commits $5 Million to Establish GRID Alternatives’ Tribal Solar Accelerator Fund

Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC) announced today a philanthropic commitment of $5 million over three years to support solar projects in tribal communities across the U.S.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Applications Now Open for The Scotts Miracle-Gro Foundation Hometown Community Garden and Greenspace Grant Fund

At ScottsMiracle-Gro, our roots run deep. This year, we’re celebrating the 150th anniversary of our company, and we contribute a big part of our success to the local community in Marysville, Ohio, who’s helped us grow over the years. That’s why we’re honored to partner with The Union County Foundation to provide more resources for garden and greenspace development in our own corporate backyard of Union County, Ohio.

Innovation & Technology

VIDEO | Barclays Citizenship Awards: Digi Dhan Team

The Digi Dhan team set up Digi Dhan, meaning digital money, in partnership with the NASSCOM Foundation, a non-profit organisation dedicated to using technology for good.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Smithfield Foods Donates More Than 35,000 Pounds of Protein to Montana Food Bank Network

Smithfield Foods, Inc. and Albertsons joined forces to donate more than 35,000 pounds of protein to Montana Food Bank Network. Smithfield’s contribution was part of the company’s 2018 Helping Hungry Homes® donation tour. Now in the program’s 10th year, Helping Hungry Homes® is Smithfield’s signature hunger-relief initiative focused on alleviating hunger and helping Americans become more food secure. The donation, equivalent to more than 141,000 servings, will help families fight hunger across Montana.

Health & Healthcare

PT Freeport Indonesia, a Freeport-McMoRan Company, Supports Healthcare for Indigenous Communities

PT Freeport-Indonesia’s Partnership Fund for Community Development (LPMAK) provides healthcare to residents of Mimika Regency in Papua, Indonesia, at the Mitra Masyarakat Hospital in Timika.

The hospital opened in 2000 and is now a four-star accredited healthcare facility, providing access to healthcare for a previously underserved community.

Innovation & Technology

Technology Can Help Counter the Forces of Economic Concentration

While the U.S. economy continues to grow, there is widespread concern that too many communities are being left behind. However, global ecommerce platforms like eBay connect small businesses to millions of buyers around the world, providing a boost to Main Street small businesses, whether they are thriving in a growth hub or faced with a deeply challenged local economy.

Education

Amgen Biotech Experience in Netherlands

The Amgen Biotech Experience and DNA Labs On the Road have partnered to bring students in the Netherlands a real-world biotechnology lab experience in the classroom, helping them better understand what science is and how it influences their daily lives.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Sappi Invests in the Future of Graphics Papers at Cloquet Mill

Significant upgrades were recently made to the headbox on the No. 12 Paper Machine at the Cloquet Mill, including improved dilution control.

The modifications will result in improved sheet flatness and roll quality. The previous headbox controlled basis weight through slice lip profi ling, where the shape of the discharge nozzle is defl ected slightly to spread the fiber evenly across the machine.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Sysco Improves Sustainability in Seafood Supply Chain

Sysco is committed to working with suppliers to improve sustainability in our seafood supply chain through fishery improvement programs (FIPS). In partnership with World Wildlife Fund, we are working with fishermen to improve record-keeping and traceability, reduce bycatch and better manage fish stocks, helping increase the supply of sustainable seafood for current and future generations.

Green Infrastructure

Nation’s 1st Pollinator-Friendly Right-of-Way Solar Project Moves Forward in Georgia

The Georgia Public Service Commission (Georgia PSC) has authorized funding for Georgia Power to construct, own and operate a one-megawatt solar array on Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) property at Exit 14 off Interstate 85, which is known as “The Ray.” Georgia will be the third state in the nation to utilize the grassy shoulder of an interstate highway, called the “right-of-way” (ROW), to generate solar energy. This unique project will pilot the use of native flowering plants as ground cover in test plots within the solar array, making Georgia the first in the nation to pilot pollinator-friendly, right-of-way solar.

Education

Mohawk Helps Revitalize Georgia Schools in Partnership With Community-focused School Crashers Program

This year many Georgia schoolchildren will work and play in classrooms and media spaces with a fresh look and energy due in part to Mohawk Industries and the Georgia United Credit Union School Crashers℠ program.

Since the program’s inception five years ago, Mohawk has partnered with the Georgia-based credit union to “crash” select community schools and give them much-needed renovations. Each year hundreds of schools apply for facility makeovers, providing a list of their needs, and School Crashers chooses the lucky winners.

Education

Sodexo Revolutionizes High School Cafeteria Experience with Launch of Innovative Taste4 Dining Concept

Sodexo, a food services and facilities management company that provides student nutrition to nearly 400 school districts throughout the U.S., has launched Taste4, a new meal concept that revamps the classics - salads and wraps, deli sandwiches, pasta, grilled favorites, pizza – and elevates school lunch for today’s sophisticated palettes.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Sustainable Investing at Northern Trust

The foundation of Northern Trust's responsible investment principles is that we act in a manner to protect our clients’ financial well-being.

Sustainable Development Goals

To Reduce Post-Harvest Loss, Start With a Sustaining End in Mind 

What does success look like? For farmers, a successful season should look like a bountiful harvest translated into a bountiful profit.

Education

Keep America Beautiful Kicks Off Eighth Annual Recycle-Bowl

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s iconic community improvement nonprofit organization, announces the launch of the eighth annual Recycle-Bowl youth recycling competition. Registration for this incentive-based recycling competition is open to all public and private schools in the United States.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Verdani Partners Becomes a Fitwel Champion, Pursues Groundbreaking Fitwel Certifications in Collaboration With Clarion Partners, LLC for Largest Impact From One Company

Six Properties in New York Metro Area, Managed by Clarion Partners and Submitted by Verdani Partners, To Be Recognized by Fitwel as the Largest-Scale Contribution By One Company to Resident Health and Well-being to Date. Verdani Partners is a third-party consultancy wholly owned by Clarion Partners, LLC, a Legg Mason company.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Impact at Work: Mission Economic Development Agency Project Spotlight

In June 2017, Mission Economic Development Agency (MEDA) reached out to Common Impact to engage the support of a skilled volunteer team in achieving an important but challenging organizational goal – one that many nonprofit organizations are similarly striving to attain. MEDA's mission is to strengthen low- and moderate-income Latino families by promoting economic equity and social justice through asset building and community development. To ensure their work would be truly impactful and align with core themes in racial justice, MEDA’s leadership aimed to create a workplace that was reflective of the community it served.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

JetBlue Partners with VH1 Save the Music Foundation to Bring the Beat Back to Filer Middle School in Miami

JetBlue today announced a special partnership with the VH1 Save The Music Foundation to reintroduce music to students at Henry H. Filer Middle School in South Florida. This school has been without a music program for more than 9 years. On August 28, 2018, JetBlue and VH1 Save The Music joined forces to donate musical instruments so the school can add music back to its curriculum. As a special surprise, singer/songwriter Emily Estefan performed a pop-up acoustic set at a special school assembly.

With a focus on STEAM (science, technology engineering, arts and math) education, JetBlue has been a proud partner of VH1 Save The Music for more than 10 years, raising more than $300,000 to boost the Foundation’s mission on a national level and save the music in public schools across the country.

Environment

Ecocentricity Blog: Summertime and the Living's Easy

I’ve fallen out of the habit of reading in the summer, but fortunately, I was able to restart the habit this year. It was a good summer with some great books, and I’ll share a few over the next several posts.

Latest Campaigns

  1. Sustainable Products and Innovation
    Ongoing research into innovative solutions enables CNH’s brands to manufacture products that respect the environment while satisfying customers’...
  2. 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...
  3. Growth Through Sustainability
    Trane Technologies is a global climate innovator with a clear purpose to boldly challenge what’s possible for a sustainable world. See how embedding...
  4. Goals That Inspire: Environmental Stewardship
    Through our Goals That Inspire we have established aggressive commitments with targeted and measurable metrics which will require innovation...
  5. Leading ESG & Sustainability Stewardship
    The new CNH continues on its longstanding path of excellence in sustainability, which is recognized by the foremost authorities.
  6. 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...
  7. Recognition of our Company
    As the leading sports and live music company in the world, we recognize our responsibility to provide industry leadership and to conduct our business...
  8. Aflac Insights
    Learn more about Aflac’s survey findings to better understand workplace trends as well as consumer attitudes, habits and opinions toward health and...
  9. Technology for Good
    We believe that technology, when thoughtfully and strategically applied, can bring positive, lasting change to people’s lives and communities and...
  10. Technology for Good
    We believe that technology, when thoughtfully and strategically applied, can bring positive, lasting change to people’s lives and communities and...
  11. EVP Campaign
    Driving awareness of DP World’s Employee Value Proposition across the Americas, showcasing the company’s purpose-driven mission, talent strategy, and...
  12. Aflac Voices
    Hear from Aflac’s senior leaders and subject matter experts about industry trends and more.
  13. Plastics Footprint
    We aspire to be a leader in driving innovative solutions that address the problem of plastic pollution and enable a circular economy. We are committed...
  14. Accelerating access to healthcare technology
    We believe technology can help close the world’s health gaps. By putting people first, we find new ways to advance health while reducing costs. And...
  15. Health & Nutrition
    Be the leading nutritious and sustainable product development partner for our customers, developing industry leading solutions that enable the...