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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Innovation & Technology

Green Chemistry: Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany Makes it Possible

How can you develop environmentally friendly chemicals that are just as effective as traditional substances? This question has been asked by the life science company, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Through the company's "Green Chemistry" program, the Group develops and produces sustainable alternatives to the usual chemical products.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

An Interview with Arash Ghafoori, Executive Director, Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth

Arash Ghafoori is the Executive Director of the Nevada Partnership for Homeless Youth (NPHY), Southern Nevada’s most comprehensive service provider for homeless youth. Leveraging his diverse background in policy, academia, and the start-up and corporate worlds, Ghafoori has transformed NPHY into a community leader on issues affecting Southern Nevada’s homeless youth.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

Mohawk Supports Susan G. Komen 3-Day

Across the country, Mohawk Industries employees have been rallying to show support for Susan G. Komen with multi-campus #MohawkGoesPink events and volunteering in the multi-city Susan G. Komen 3-Day series.

Environment

Practitioner Spotlight--Don Riggs

Antea Group shines the spotlight on Don Riggs, its industrial safety consultant based in the Lakewood, Denver office.

Sustainable Development Goals

Healthy Soil 101: Why Soil Health Matters and How the Food Sector Can Help

Beyond sustaining plant life—and the rest of the food chain along with it—soil itself is very much alive. One handful of dirt contains up to 50 billion bacteria and hundreds of thousands of individual fungal cells. As these microorganisms move through the soil, they feast on minerals and dead organic matter and leave nutrients behind, allowing plants to grow and ecosystems to thrive.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

eBay UK Raises £105,000 in 24 Hours for Youth Charity

At eBay, we strive to create opportunity for all. Supporting entrepreneurs and small businesses in communities all over the world is central to our mission.

That’s why we’ve recently entered into a partnership to help raise funds and awareness for youth charity The Prince’s Trust. Through its Enterprise programme the charity works with 18-30 year old budding entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into a business reality by providing them with training, mentoring, funding and a variety of other resources.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Cisco, Domtar and Dow Inspire 2019 RBSNY Agenda

2019 is bringing the best, the most innovative and most inspiring brands and investors in responsible business to New York, with a focus on delivering transparent ESG leadership.

Awards, Ratings & Rankings

Key Women at Scotiabank Receive WCM’s Transformational Leadership Awards

Congratulations to the GBM Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) Office for winning the 2018 WCM Excellence in Innovation Award. This award honours those who have approached gender diversity with an innovative lens and taken bold steps to improve diversity and inclusion.

Events, Media & Communications

3BL Forum Focuses on the Long View

This year’s “Brands Taking Stands: The Long View” doubled down on the theme, exploring the latest developments in those companies taking positions on the key social and political issues of the day—and in their actions to make progressive change.

Environment

How Ikea and HP Want to Help Keep Plastic out of the Ocean: Make Stuff From It

If you buy an ink cartridge from HP, some of the plastic might have come from bottles collected on streets and canals in Port-au-Prince, Haiti–intercepted before they could end up in the ocean. Since 2017, the company has worked with local collectors to gather more than half a million pounds of plastic in the area, keeping around 12 million plastic bottles out of the Caribbean.

Events, Media & Communications

Experts Gather to Discuss ROI of Sustainable Business at New Metrics ‘18

The Sustainable Brands® community gathers today in Philadelphia, PA to kick off the 8th annual New Metrics conference. Over 300 global executives from brands like Nike, Salesforce, and Eileen Fisher are convening to unveil cutting-edge corporate practices that measure and quantify environmental and social impacts and tie them to financial and business value. Conversations are focusing on 4 key areas: Value in Strategy & Operations, Value in Finance & Investing, Value in Product & Service Innovation and Value in Marketing & Communications.

Health & Healthcare

Two Childhood Cancer Patients Ring NYSE Opening Bell to Raise Cancer Awareness

Last month, two young patients from the Aflac Cancer & Blood Disorders Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta joined Aflac executives to ring the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange in honor of Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

Education

Forbes Magazine | Corporations Turn To Community Colleges To Create Programs To Meet Workforce Needs

Google isn’t the only major corporation taking the initiative on training its future workforce; car manufacturer Subaru announced in September that it was getting in on the action, launching an associate’s degree in automotive technology with Mt. Hood Community College in Oregon.

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

LG Experience Happiness Initiative Amplifies Awareness of Research-Backed Sustainable Happiness Skills

Since launching the Life’s Good: Experience Happiness initiative a year ago, LG Electronics USA already has reached 530,000 youth across America with Sustainable Happiness Skills. LG has been working to increase awareness and usage of LG Experience Happiness partner programs across the U.S. with a goal of reaching 5.5 million over five years.

Education

Alliance for Community Trees Mentor Exchange Program Connects Up With Trees with Trees Forever

This year, Alliance for Community Trees hosted a mentor exchange program for members through a grant from the U.S. Forest Service. The mentor exchange program paired smaller non-profit groups with larger groups and allowed them to learn by travelling to their location and doing a site visit.

Research, Reports & Publications

Securing a Sustainable Future

We are proud to share our 2018 Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report, which highlights the progress we’ve made in delivering on CR commitments to our people, your information, and the world. In this, our 11th CR report, we share both the progress we’ve made and the areas where we need to improve, as both are a part of our CR journey.

Our 2018 report also describes how we are contributing to specific UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs represent a unique opportunity to align our core business capabilities with society’s pressing needs and we provide progress updates on efforts towards Goal 4 (quality education), Goal 5 (gender equality), Goal 8 (decent work and economic growth), Goal 10 (reduced inequalities), and Goal 13 (climate action).

Events, Media & Communications

Discovery Education, TGR Foundation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and University of Maryland Changemakers Discuss the Future Workforce and Talent Pipeline at ‘Brands Taking Stands’ 3BL Forum

Discovery Education, the leading provider of digital education content and professional development for K-12 classrooms, TGR Foundation, A Tiger Woods Charity, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and University of Maryland panelists yesterday joined 3BL Forum: Brands Taking Stands - The Long View to discuss The Future Workforce and a Pipeline of Talent. Technology has drastically changed the technical skills needed to hold the jobs of today and greater job specializations are the driving force behind the need for a STEM talent pipeline.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Personalization and Sustainability Continue to Be Strong Influences in the Label and Packaging Industry

Just over a week ago, I was in Chicago for Labelexpo, the largest trade show for the labeling and packaging industry. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ongoing impact of the ever increasing demand from consumers for personalized products and experiences, that are more sustainable in their footprint, was evident across the booths at the show.

Environment

Partnering to Reduce Plastic Waste

To achieve our long-term sustainability goals, we partnered with Plastic Whale to remove plastic waste from the Amsterdam canals to be recycled into raw material.

Events, Media & Communications

Mohawk Solar Energy “Handprinting” Initiative to be Featured on Oct. 30 GreenBiz Webcast

Mohawk Industries’ George Bandy Jr., VP of sustainability and commercial marketing, will join Groundswell CEO Michelle Moore for an engaging webcast sharing how their respective organizations built a solar energy partnership geared towards schools and underserved communities. The GreenBiz webcast, titled “Powering Inclusion Through Solar Handprints: An Innovative Partnership,” will take place Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, 1-2 p.m. EST. Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz, will serve as moderator. The webcast is free to attend online.

Environment

HP Sources More Than 550,000 Pounds of Ocean-Bound Plastic for New Cartridges

Imagine the size of an adult humpback whale. Now imagine the whale relative to an empty plastic water bottle. No comparison, right? In fact, it would take about 12 million empty plastic bottles (that’s nearly one bottle per every person in the state of Ohio) to balance the scale against just seven adult humpback whales.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Xylem Employees in Germany Improve Their Communities During October Month of Service

Xylem employees in Germany have been active during Xylem Watermark’s October Month of Service and have engaged children in their volunteer efforts. Last week, the Ludwigsburg site participated in a creative event, where they built a beautiful wooden shed at a youth farm for local children. Their neighbors at the Langenhagen site supported the Friends Children Forest in Hannover by planting trees and restoring a stream. Both the Ludswigburg and Langenhagen teams are showing how their volunteer efforts are improving their communities during Xylem’s Global Month of Service!

Philanthropy & Cause Initiatives

2018 Youth Homelessness Summit | Faces of Collaboration: Tayvon and Emily

Emily Paulsen has served as the Executive Director of the Nevada Homeless Alliance since 2016. She believes housing is a human right and is dedicated to building a socially just community where everyone can be housed.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Celebrating Pro Bono Week 2018

Happy Pro Bono Week! Pro Bono Week recognizes the skilled volunteers who put their talents to work making a positive difference in communities around the world. Common Impact is excited to celebrate the nonprofits, volunteers and leaders that make pro bono so successful - not just in October, but throughout the year!

Energy

UPS to Launch First-of-Its-Kind U.S. Urban Delivery Solution in Seattle

In an effort to address growing traffic congestion and air quality concerns, UPS (NYSE: UPS) and Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan today announced the deployment of an innovative downtown delivery pilot project using pedal-assist cargo eBikes and customized, modular trailers.

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...