Impact & Sustainability News From Leading Brands

Education

Here’s How You Can Help Teachers Inspire Students This School Year

Aug 10, 2016 4:00 PM ET

Summer is almost over, and children all over the country will soon be heading back to school. In order to ensure that their students have another phenomenal year of learning, many teachers purchase their own school supplies.

Environment

See the Recyclable Materials Auto Makers Use to Make Cars Environmentally Friendly

Aug 10, 2016 3:40 PM ET

When vehicles are made from reused components, they contribute to the circular economy – reducing or eliminating waste and pollution that would have resulted.

Health & Healthcare

India’s New Mental Health Care Act and the Complexity of Mental Illness

Aug 10, 2016 3:35 PM ET

On August 8, 2016, India passed the Mental Health Care Act. What does this mean for people experiencing mental illness and the services and supports they need and use?

Responsible Production & Consumption

3TG is Just the Starting Point for Supply Chain Investigation

Aug 10, 2016 3:25 PM ET

Approximately 1,200 publicly-traded companies filed Conflict Minerals Reports with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this year, in accordance with Dodd-Frank Section 1502 (Conflict Minerals Rule). As the filings period for the 2015 reporting year has drawn to a close, companies are already preparing for the 2016 reporting year.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Hidden Hunger and What Young Leaders are Doing to Help

Aug 10, 2016 2:10 PM ET

Actively engaging young people in their community can result in positive and meaningful social change. Learn more about how to engage young people by reading Six Steps to Engage Millennials in Social Change and utilizing the complimentary Youth Engagement Toolkit.

Social Impact & Volunteering

How Time Warner Cable, The Connectory, and VolunteerMatch Collaborated for Mutually Beneficial Results

Aug 10, 2016 2:00 PM ET

At VM Summit 16, Erin Hogeboom of National Girl Collaborative will present a session called The STEM Trifecta: How Time Warner Cable, The Connectory, and VolunteerMatch Collaborated for Mutually Beneficial Results. Learn more about Erin and her session in this Q&A, including why she is looking forward to VM Summit 16.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Going Behind-the-Scenes at the Rio Olympics

Aug 10, 2016 1:35 PM ET

"And Shawn Johnson takes home the gold for USA Gymnastics!" Those were the words my heart clung to as I, then an 11-year-old girl, watched from my family’s living room as my favorite gymnast stood tall atop the podium in Beijing in the summer of 2008. I have always reserved a special reverence and excitement for the Olympics. After all, it is during the Olympics that the world pauses briefly, setting feuds and tensions aside, to celebrate the pinnacle of human athletic achievement.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Sustainability-Led Innovation: Imperative in a Volatile Economy

Aug 10, 2016 1:00 PM ET

Striking a balance between managing for the short term and re-tooling for a future is not easy. It is not enough to craft a new marketing campaign; in fact starting with marketing, before getting the product and offer right, can backfire. Bringing a truly sustainable brand to market in the 21st century requires a whole new mindset and new set of methods, tools and partners. Sustainability-led innovation is imperative in a volatile economy.

Environment

Capturing Rainwater Will Save GM Plant Millions of Dollars

Aug 10, 2016 12:35 PM ET

A new project to capture stormwater at GM Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly – home of the Chevrolet Volt – is slated to save the plant nearly $2 million every year. The initiative, two years in the making, now allows the plant to reuse rainwater for manufacturing processes throughout the 4 million square foot facility.

Responsible Production & Consumption

Forest Management: Killing The Goose

Aug 10, 2016 12:30 PM ET

A curious dilemma has emerged for the environmental community seeking to encourage companies to adopt sustainable production practices through the vehicle of market-based, voluntary certifications. Until this dilemma is resolved, it could drive the very companies who are engaged in the best practices away from participation in these certification programs.

Energy

DuPont 2020 Energy Goal Case Study: Changing the Way We Power Our Labs

Aug 10, 2016 12:05 PM ET

As a world leader in science-based innovation, DuPont is constantly pursuing new frontiers in agriculture and nutrition, advanced materials, and bio-based industrials. The science of transforming the world requires a lot of things --- perseverance, world-class scientists and engineers, and cutting edge research and development facilities to name a few. And, it also takes a lot of energy. In 2014, DuPont used approximately 27 million megawatt hours (direct and indirect) of energy, the equivalent consumption of 2.5 million U.S. homes over the course of a year.

Energy

Opening of Landside Power Plant Altona: AIDAsol Connected to Power Supply in Altona

Aug 10, 2016 11:30 AM ET

The June arrival of the AIDAsol marked the official opening of the landside power plant in Altona. In addition to Olaf Scholz, Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg, Jens Meier, Chairman of the Management Board HPA, Dr. Monika Griefahn, Director for Environment and Society AIDA Cruises, and Michael Westhagemann, CEO of the Siemens AG Region Hanse and Chairman of the Cluster Renewable Energy Hamburg, Federal Environmental Minister Dr. Barbara Hendricks and Andreas Boschen, HEAD of INEA CEF (Connecting Europe Facility) also attended the event.

Diversity & Inclusion

Graduating Doesn’t Ensure You’ll Find a Job: 9 Lessons to Help in Your Journey

Aug 10, 2016 11:30 AM ET

Environment

Mars Achieves Zero Waste to Landfill Goal

Aug 10, 2016 11:05 AM ET

Mars Inc., manufacturer of confectionery, pet food and other food products, has released its sixth annual Principals in Action Summary.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Meet Elżbieta Henryka Strzelec from Poland

Aug 10, 2016 11:00 AM ET

Elżbieta, from Warsaw, is a teacher of both biology and natural science, working in two different schools. She has 25 years' experience and is responsible for the education of students between the ages of 13 and 19.

Energy

Improving Lives in Sri Lanka’s Rural Communities

Aug 10, 2016 10:25 AM ET

Biomass Supplies, a Sri Lankansubsidiary of Biomass Group –the visionary renewable energy company – is developing Sri Lanka’s abundant sustainable energy resources through innovative partnerships with the country’s smallholder farmers. Biomass has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to boost the incomes of 40,000 farmers – at least 70 percent of them women – by 2018 and improve their yields through training in sustainable agriculture practices.

Sustainable Finance & Socially Responsible Investment

Women Using Venture Capital to Change the World

Aug 10, 2016 10:10 AM ET

Good Ventures. Read about how Nancy Pfund, one of Silicon Valley's leading venture capitalists, is changing the world

Environment

Drought Prompts Need for Alternative Water Supplies, But Other Drivers Gaining Traction

Aug 10, 2016 10:00 AM ET

The importance of alternative water supplies, such as water reuse, brackish groundwater and desalination, continues to grow as organizations look to build diversified, resilient water supplies.

Health & Healthcare

Partnering with Diabetes At The Centre of the Universe

Aug 10, 2016 10:00 AM ET

Located on the hillside where Galileo Galilei was watching the stars, the Italian Barometer Diabetes Observatory Foundation breaks new ground in chronic disease management through a unique partnership model.

Education

CITGO and the Ocean Exploration Trust Partnership Brings Science to Life for Students and Educators

Aug 10, 2016 10:00 AM ET

For the third year, CITGO Petroleum Corporation and the Ocean Exploration Trust (OET) are providing teachers and students with unique educational opportunities in the eastern Pacific Ocean.

Health & Healthcare

Is Health the New Carbon?

Aug 10, 2016 9:40 AM ET

Our built environment has a profound impact on our health, well-being, happiness and productivity. It can shape our habits and choices, regulate our sleep-wake cycle, drive us toward healthy and unhealthy choices, and passively influence our health through the quality of our surroundings.

Innovation & Technology

From Big Data to Smart Data: Gear Units Go Digital

Aug 10, 2016 9:05 AM ET

Siemens has developed a digital measurement technology that records stress in gear units during their operation. The data can then be used to optimize the design of a new gear unit for the same application. This enables overspecification to be avoided without running any risk of undersized units failing due to overloading. Procurement costs are thus reduced, and the data also provide information on how to optimally operate the unit. Flender Gearlog – the name of the measurement technology – incorporates various sensors and a specially developed computer including software for evaluating the data.

Social Impact & Volunteering

Elbow Grease: TMMWV Team Members Volunteer to Help Flood Victims Dig Out

Aug 10, 2016 9:00 AM ET

Toyota Motor Manufacturing West Virginia (TMMWV) team member Tony Perry is known as “the Refrigerator." Perry, you see, has the strength and stomach to remove refrigerators and freezers from homes devastated by a record-breaking flood in Clendenin, W.Va., about 60 miles east of TMMWV.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Rio 2016 Committee Supports Small Businesses to Boost Sustainability

Aug 10, 2016 9:00 AM ET

The Olympic Games Organizing Committee in Rio wants to create a record for holding the most sustainable Olympic Games ever. According to CEBDS, the Brazilian partner organization of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, the Games are helping to accelerate the spread of sustainable business processes in Brazil.

Diversity & Inclusion

Darden for Life | Kim Basham of LongHorn Steakhouse

Aug 9, 2016 9:25 PM ET

I’ve been with Darden 25 years in June. For the last 17 of those years, I’ve been a bartender and server at the LongHorn Steakhouse on Eastgate North Drive in Cincinnati, OH. I was one of the first employees hired when the restaurant opened. My team members tease me by saying that the building was built around me